Youth promise active involvement for environmental justice
Raimy Esperanza Ramirez Jimenez of the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela interacts with other Youth for Eco-Justice participants.By George Arende (*)
After two weeks of training on the theology and politics of ecological justice in Durban, South Africa, Christian youth from around the world have pledged to start, in their own contexts, initiatives that promote the new understandings they have acquired.
Youth for Eco-Justice, a joint project of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) brought together 30 young people for biblical reflection and dialogue on the environment from 28 November to 10 December.
These young people were trained in advocacy, campaign strategizing, communication and eco-justice project planning and implementation.
Youth for Eco-Justice included Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Orthodox, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics. They gathered in Durban at the same time as negotiations were underway at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
As they prepared to leave Durban, the youth outlined some of their future plans.
