pathways, NOVEMBER 2007
We need to start thinking of the world as one country ... If we approach the crisis just from the point of science and economics, people become invisible.
Fr Kevin Dance CP comments from the United Nations, New York, on the 60th annual Department of Public Information/Non-Government Organisations
Conference, CLIMATE CHANGE: HOW IT IMPACTS US ALL
with related reports
Cooperation with civil society crucial to tackling climate change, UN officials say
World leaders realize urgency of combating climate change - Ban Ki-moon
and
A study trip to the Pacific island of Kiribati investigates the impacts of climate change.
Strawberries from Greenland!
by Kevin Dance CP
With almost 2000 people gathered from 80 countries, the three days gathering for the United Nations' 60th annual Department of Public Information/Non-Government Organisations Conference, CLIMATE CHANGE: HOW IT IMPACTS US ALL was, at times alarming, often challenging and always exciting.
Greenland is now growing potatoes. In three years time they will be growing strawberries! Our world is warming!
Experts showed us the scientific evidence for climate change.
We heard from people whose lives are already being disrupted - indigenous people, those living on low-lying islands, people caught in the poverty trap.
Climate change is a moral issue, a human rights issue, a development issue, a peace and security issue, an economic issue, a survival issue.
The message was clear: we are running out of time to remedy the situation.
Each of us has a part to play in addressing what is possibly the greatest crisis our world hasyet faced.
Climate change is the transformative issue of the 21st century.
It challenges the paradigm of equity - those who do the least damage, suffer the most. But this shared crisis can be the trigger for a radical change to save us and draw us all together in new and hopeful ways.
We need to start thinking of the world as one country. We all live in Earthland.
If we approach the crisis just from the point of science and economics, people become invisible. We must bring in the moral dimension. It is morally untenable to decide in terms of the cost to my own country or economy, without considering the damage I am doing to the interests of the rest of the world.
Dr Rajendra K Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, very quietly broke the news to us:
- 11 of the warmest years in recorded history have been in the last 12 years
- With rising temperatures, vector borne diseases are on the increase
- We have 7-8 years as the outer limit for the increase of emissions
- We must put a price on carbon and stop subsidizing it
- We need partnerships that reach around the world
- If we lower emissions right now, it will take 100 years to keep the increase of temperature at less than 2 degrees C
He reminded us that the Kyoto Protocol offered emission reduction of five percent. The G8, in its 2007 meeting, offered 50 per cent reduction in emissions. But to ensure our future there must be 95 per cent reduction.
So what is needed is the Ecological Conversion of which Pope John Paul II spoke:
"Humanity has disappointed divine expectations - humiliating the earth, our home. It is necessary, therefore, to stimulate and sustain ecological conversion."
(John Paul II, General Audience, January 17, 2001)
Cooperation with civil society crucial to tackling climate change, UN officials say
Top United Nations officials
underscored the necessity of the partnership between the world body and civil society in addressing climate change at a non-governmental organization (NGO) conference in New York.
While Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has identified climate change as one of his top priorities, "we also understand that this is not a challenge for the UN alone," Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro told over 2000 NGO and civil society representatives gathered at UN Headquarters.
Confronting climate change "requires a truly global effort; an effort that draws together governments, the private sector and civil society in one sustained push for change," she said at the opening of the three-day gathering with the theme
Climate change: how it impacts us all. (
complete article - the UN media release from the conference commented on by Fr Dance)
World leaders realize urgency of combating climate change - Ban Ki-moon
An historic United Nations high-level meeting on climate change has galvanized world leaders to take urgent action to stem global warning, according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The discussion convened by Mr Ban at UN Headquarters in New York drew more than 80 heads of State or government, making it the largest-ever gathering on the issue, which he has identified as one of his top priorities.
"I sensed something remarkable happening, something transformative - a sea-change, whereby leaders showed themselves willing to put aside blame for the past and pose to themselves more forward-looking questions," he wrote in an
op-ed published in the
International Herald Tribune. "Where do we go from here? What can we do, together, in the future?" (
complete article)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Climate change at Kiribati
JRS Associate Director, Dr Maryanne Loughry RSM recently joined a study trip to the Pacific island of Kiribati to investigate the impacts of climate change.
With delegates drawn from Australian Church groups and non government organisations, Dr Loughry brought a particular expertise in forced displacement to the delegation.
Pacific islanders, such as the 110 000 inhabitants of Kiribati, are amongst the most vulnerable to climate change induced displacement.
Top of page
