Copenhagen - Nordic Churhces together

Today and tomorrow representatives from different Nordic churches will meet in Copenhagen to look at what we can do together as churches in a Nordic context on issues like climate change and sustainable development.

Hopefully this will be a much more fruitful meeting then the UNFCCC meeting December 2009.

I think it is great that we as faith communities are reflecting over why this is a subject that is a part of our identity as churches and at the same time thinking of what we can do on a practical level.

To come somewhere with the huge assignment we have to change from an unsustainable and unfair world order to a efficient, sustainable and more fair world we need to look at our values, at our spiritualities. We also have to walk the talk. To pray and act at the same time!

So let´s hope for a small Nordic Ecumenical step towards a greater engagement of the faith communities.

Food prices and Middle East Crisis

In the media for the last weeks the protests against the regimes in Middle East has been in focus. Often social media as Facebook and Twitter is mentioned as the vehicle that drives the protests. And perhaps that is the truth. But maybe not the whole truth.

There are also an underlying force in the sky rocketing on the food prices in the world. And this is not just related to a greater demand due. It is also related to the lower yields last year and it seems that it is related to climate. For example the heatwave in Russia led to a less crop then usual.

Today we face that the world market is rising and that also may be an underlying reason for the protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen etc.

Climate Change is not an issue only for environmentalists. It is about democracy, freedom, human rights, sustainability and about to have food on the table

Faith communities in Cancun - does it matter

The UNFCCC meeting in Cancun is running on overtime and every delegate seems to to their best to avoid a failure like we seen in Copenhagen.

Also the WCC have as the last of everyone in plenum made its statement. But does it matter if the faith communities is present or not? Do they add anything more than just another voice that we can hear from other environmentalist or social justice groups.

Actually I think it matters.
A document on why churches are present in Cancun from the group that attended the Cancun meeting was delivered and it ends like this

The holistic approach to climate change that churches proclaim also includes the spiritual dimension which must not be overlooked or ignored in the deliberations over political and economic interests. The hosting of ecumenical or interfaith celebrations during the COPs, as well as other explicit expressions like demonstrations and messages from local congregations and communities, stress the particular contribution that faith based groups and organizations can and must bring to the debate. It is our hope that the ethical and spiritual considerations will be taken seriously in the follow-up deliberations after COP 16.

There is, therefore, a moral obligation for the churches and faith communities to participate in the negotiations of the international community in Cancun and in the future. Their contribution is twofold: to urge the world to act for a more just and equitable world and and the same time, rooted in their spiritual teachings, convey a message of hope to the whole world.

That is a good reason why.

Cancun - last hours

Cancun meeting is in the last 24 hours now. All the states are doing their statements and the buzzwords changes all the time. Japan needs to be talked into that they stay in the Kyoto protocol. And what about historical emissions? In the LCA document or not?

Anyway the hope is that Cancun delivers a kind of road map, even though that word relates to Bali meeting 2007.

The world need to step every step, even if it is small, to reduce the climate impact.

The hope is still there but it needs to be fed by states and organisations that take the lead and act for a low carbon tomorrow.

Yes we CanCun! Maybe...

Now I have arrived in Cancun for the COP 16. It is the forth time that I am at a COP.

The mood could be marked as low expectations but with some hope.

There is no real spirit of "Yes, we can!" It is more like: "Well, maybe we can, if somebody else start".

But still. I miss the references to moral obligations to act. I miss the justice perspective that points out the need and rights for the developing regions of the world to develop and leapfrog the fossil driven development.

So lets see what happens during the last days.

Cancun - hopes and fears

Even though the expectations of the upcoming negotiations of UNFCCC at COP16 are low there are some hopes and some fears.

The hope is that at least the promised money for quick-start funds for adaptation will be raised and that it will be additional to other development aid money. One of the few positive things in Copenhagen was the promises from US and other to deliver this money for development.

The other positive thing with Cancun is the low expectations! In Copenhagen everybody raised their expectations for some years, and that seemed to lock the processes. This time with a post-Copenhagen depression over the las year no one expect anything to come out of the meeting. This might be a good ground for a good grounding work for the next meeting in Durban, South Africa 2011. At least EU seems to have gone back to keep and prolong the Kyoto protocol so that there will be some kind of legally binding treaty to hold on to.

The fears? Well, it must be that the parties just don´t see the urgency anymore and dig the trenches even deeper and pointing at the other telling the to act and escalate the blame-game. And the result will be a much more insecure, unequal and unjust world and unsustainable in every aspect.

Statement from Budapest

The conference in Budapest on Poverty Wealth and Ecology is over and the statement is published on the internet.

The call is a good call that I think underline some of the more important perspectives. The call to EU institutions is for example;

· Climate justice, and therefore both social and ecological values, should be a central goal of policy-making. In industrialised countries economic growth should no longer be seen as an aim in itself.

· European countries and the EU should politically and financially support green growth in developing countries in order to allow for the development of renewable energy.

· Tax systems must be reformed in order to be at the service of just, participatory and sustainable societies and communities, as well as to promote justice on the global scale.

· Prices on goods and services should reflect true social and ecological costs and benefits.

· Coal-fired power stations and nuclear power stations should be replaced by renewable energy as soon as possible, richer European countries should support poorer ones in so doing.

· A redistribution of wealth and income as a key element of environmentally sustainable societies is necessary.

· The redistribution of wealth and sharing of technology between rich countries and poor countries affected by climate change are crucial elements of climate justice and have to go along with additional support for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

· The EU should commit itself to more ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets regardless of policies of other large economies.

· The market sphere needs to be informed and limited by the public sphere and the real “core economy” – namely our ability to care, teach, learn, empathise and live in solidarity.

· People living in poverty and social exclusion, including marginalised migrants, shall participate in the definition, design and implementation of all measures which affect them according to the principle “Nothing about us without us is for us”.

And the call to the churches are

· be prepared to use their influence and positions to take a firm stand and to take a risk where necessary when it comes to conflicts following God’s preferential option for the poor.

· make use of the WCC statement on Eco-Justice and Ecological Debt in their approach to governments and in their relationship with official institutions, companies and church members.

· acknowledge the close link between the fight against poverty and the struggle for climate justice in their strategic and practical approaches.

· reflect on the impact of their policies as well as the lifestyles of their members on both the climate and on vulnerable and poor peoplw

· be pioneers and examples on the way to sufficiency by implementing practical programmes on reducing CO2 emissions, e.g. environmental certificates for parishes, increasing the knowledge and solidarity as well as exemplifying different sets of values and fulfillment as alternatives to consumerism and striving for life according to the “principle of enough”.

I think there are some real good and interesting standpoints in this that should make churches more wiling to act. Because that is what we need now.

The full statement can be find at http://www.ceceurope.org/news-and-media/news/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=230&tx_ttnews[backPid]=17&cHash=5917295165