Weltumwelttag 2007
Worldwide
”You give new life to the earth”
(Psalm 104,30)
Melting ice – a hot topic
There has lately been a great increase in the attention that is paid to climate change and matters of environment. Reports from UN Panel on Climate Change endorse the fact that many people are experiencing climate change locally. We are experiencing drought, floods, extreme weather conditions, warmer seasons, melting ice, the rise of sea levels. The climate is changing. Temperatures in the Arctic region are rising twice as fast as in other places on earth. The poor are those who are hit fi rst and who are hit hardest. Climate changes are already taking the lives of people. Moreover, many animal and plant species are in danger of being wiped out. UN’s researchers claim that today’s climatic changes are caused by us who inhabit the earth, and that we in the rich parts of the world bear the greatest responsibility for these changes.
World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June, is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The World Environment Day slogan selected for 2007 is Melting Ice - a Hot Topic. Norway and the city of Tromsø is honoured to host the international World Environment Day 2007 celebrations in recognition of the hot topic of melting ice. More than a hundred nations are celebrating this day, and the theme is highly relevant.
Church of Norway and Christian Council of Norway are together with World Council of Churches encouraging churches to celebrate World Environment Day 2007. This can take place either the Sunday before or after 5 June, i.e. on 3 June or 10 June. It can also take place at some other time. A service on World Environment Day should take into account:
- wonder and thankfulness
- when standing face to face with the infi nite variety of creation.
- sorrow and recognition of responsibility in the face of environmental challenges
- solidarity and love when face to face with the world that God loves.
- hope and action when faced with the responsibility God has given us towards the creation and towards one another.
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