The EU Budget, in not matching up to the EU's' objectives, fails to provide sufficiently for the European Common Good, concludes the Church of England House of Bishops' Europe Panel in a submission to the European Commission's Budget Review exercise calling for a greener Budget.
Urgent action is needed by the United States in response to global warming, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in a March 31 letter to the U.S. Senate, urging Congress' upper house "to take up climate change legislation at the earliest possible moment."
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams has said that the case for action on climate change is a moral as well as a practical one, challenging the world's rich and powerful nations to act with justice towards future generations and to the world's poorest.
European church leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, have warned governments that "Substantially reducing global emissions of greenhouse gasses will not avoid the serious impacts of climate change already experienced by many of the world's most vulnerable communities".
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has appointed Paula Clifford on a six month secondment from Christian Aid to help further the Church of England's quest for sustainable solutions to climate change, following on from the launch of the Church of England's "Shrinking the Footprint" initiative.
Bishop Geoff Davies is affectionately known as the "Green Bishop." Recently retired from Episcopal ministry in the Church of the Province of South Africa, Bishop Davies provides leadership for the Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute.
The Church of England will be marking World Environment Day (Monday 5 June) by taking a further step forward in the campaign to 'green' the Church. All parish churches are being invited to carry out an audit of current energy uses so that a benchmark can be established. Once the size of the current 'carbon footprint' of the Church has been assessed, the campaign will roll out initiatives to shrink that footprint.
The Church of England has been working with The Conservation Foundation on a series of events linked to the Foundation's Parish Pump Programme since 2001. The programme aims to provide environmental information to individuals actively involved in their local communities, both rural and urban, many of whom planted trees in the Foundation's Yews for the Millennium initiative. This nationwide project provided local communities with young yews propagated from ancient trees estimated to be 2000 years old or more to celebrate the third millennium. As a result, many members are associated with their parish church and the Parish Pump Workshops are an opportunity for the Church to act as host for Parish Pumps and others to meet one another together with representatives of local authorities and environmental organisations.
ROME, Oct. 22 A new United Nations agency aimed at protecting the environment while helping expedite economic development for developing countries will be set up in the northern Italian city of Trieste, the Italian news agency ANSA reported on Saturday.
According to the report, the Institute on a Partnership for Environmental Development agency (IPED) will help set environmental targets for the UN's priority development projects.
A team of international experts will gather in Trieste to provide necessary knowledge and measures to the technicians and managers from developing countries on how to effectively combine the economic development with environmental protection, which is the major concern for development experts.
Italian Environment Minister Altero Matteoli said: "We've kicked off the creation of this important institute which will help build an environmental professional elite group all over the world. "
"IPED will provide targeted training to meet the specific demands of developing countries," he said.
IPED is part of the UN's wider program of "building capacities" in the developing world rather than merely providing aid and expertise to the less developed countries.
Besides IPED, Italy also hosts three UN agencies, all located in Rome: the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Program (WFP).
The South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism held a national conference on climate change, October 2005.
Conference papers and report can be found at the department's website: www.environment.gov.za
There were two sections, the scientific and the 'consultative' which dealt with more political/social issues. Six cabinet ministers, including the Deputy President, addressed the conference. This was in preparation for Montreal. It was most encouraging that the government appears to be taking this issue seriously. The disturbing aspect was that although the scientists said that we need to start reducing the CO2 emissions by 2012 at the latest if we are to keep temperature rise below 2 degrees C, industry and many governments show no inclination to reduce the need for fossil fuel energy.
Interfaith Power and Light held its second annual national conference at Cathedral College in Washington, DC, on July 16-19. Attendees from the 16 state affiliates across the country gathered to discuss how to mobilize a religious response to global warming while promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation.
God's creation delivers unsettling news. Earth's climate is warming to dangerous levels; 90 percent of the world's fisheries have been depleted; coastal development and pollution are causing a sharp decline in ocean health; shrinking habitat threatens to extinguish thousands of species; over 95 percent of the contiguous United States forests have been lost; and almost half of the population in the United States lives in areas that do not meet national air quality standards. In recent years, the profound danger has grown, requiring us as theologians, pastors, and religious leaders to speak out and act with new urgency.
More on this item can be found here: http://www.ncccusa.org/news/14.02.05theologicalstatement.html
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