As we come together to celebrate World Environment Day and reflect on this year’s theme of "Raise your Voice, Not the Sea Level" it is important to consider how we as Christians can support communities impacted by climate change and respond to Pope Francis’ call to be "protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment."
The recent 'Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature, Our Responsibility' conference held at the Vatican in May reminded us that "human action which is not respectful of nature becomes a boomerang for human beings that creates inequality and extends what Pope Francis has termed 'the globalisation of indifference' and the ‘economy of exclusion’."
The Christian response - environmental education and dialogue. The importance of this was expressed beautifully by Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB, of Honduras at the opening address of the conference, "our primary environmental strategy should be environmental education… through an education on the environment, individuals, societies and states will become aware of the transcendent meaningfulness of the world around us. Education will thus enable us to constructively absorb the skills, the experience, the values and the determination that will prompt us to work to solve both present and future problems in this realm and address them as challenges pertaining to our responsibility for the sustainability of both the environment and mankind," (May 2, 2014).
Since 2002, Catholic Earthcare Australia has worked to stimulate and support ecological conversion, through a range of initiatives that focus on environmental education, transformation and advocacy at the individual, organisational and community level.
Good for Creation, Good for Community:
For World Environment Day 2014, Catholic Earthcare is establishing 28 learning communities across Australia through the launch of the National Energy Efficiency Network (NEEN). The purpose of NEEN is to inform and support the energy efficiency journey of organisations that provide for those most at risk from social and environmental impacts. Through increased efficiency we hope to reduce carbon emissions and power bills, which in turn frees up funding for core programs and benefits the community.
Following successful learning community events in Canberra, Melbourne and Hobart, NEEN launched to South Australian community organisations at a free event on World Environment Day, June 5th at the Adelaide Catholic Cathedral Hall. The event combined an energy efficiency seminar, a NEEN+ community workshop and a networking lunch, to enable attendees to connect, explore, collaborate and take action on energy saving opportunities relevant to their organisation.
Following the Adelaide launch, NEEN will be hosting events in Perth (Perth Town Hall, June 12th), Brisbane (Francis Rush Centre, June 18th), Darwin (Nightcliff Uniting Church, July 3rd) and Sydney (Carriageworks, July 16th). For more information or to register please visit: neen.org.au/events
This article is courtesy of Catholic Earthcare Australia. For more information please visit: www.catholicearthcare.org.au