Blog post
“From grass stalks to grassroots.” This was the phrase suggested to me when I described the two-way role that I see the church having in events such as the Biodiversity COP 16 in Cali, Colombia. The grass stalks represent the role of heads of state and the high-level negotiations of a global agreement to protect 30% of the world’s biodiversity by 2030. At this level, I was stirred by the words of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who opened his remarks during the High Level Segment on 29 October with these words: “We are at the beginning of human extinction. When I say this, it is not an exaggeration.” I then felt convicted by UN Secretary General António Guterres who told the world that biodiversity loss is an existential crisis, from which no country is immune.
Yet, the stalks cannot grow without the roots, nor can they be strong without being rooted deeply within the soil. So it is that the grass stalks of COP16, all of the high-level policy making and negotiations, must be supported, nurtured, and fed by the grassroots of the people to whom states and global bodies are accountable.
At COP16, the grassroots were represented in various and diverse spaces: Indigenous communities and organizations; faith-based organizations including Faiths for Biodiversity, who hosted the Faith Hub and welcomed the World Council of Churches delegates; and a wide range of civil society groups. Most exciting for me were the conversations that I participated in with Indigenous leaders from around the world, who have been protecting 80% of the world’s biodiversity. As well, the Green Zone was a delightful and inspiring surprise! It was a dynamic space open to the public to encourage ecological education and citizen participation in understanding the issue of biodiversity loss and the myriad ways in which regular people can work for the protection of the Earth community. Seeing everyone welcome to participate in COP16 via the Green Zone filled me with the hope that we can empower people everywhere to take action to prevent further biodiversity loss and protect what is left.
Paul says, “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him.” The grassroots is where Jesus spent his time, is where he broke bread, offered healing, and showed us what it means to have our roots deep in him. The abundant life promised to us in Christ Jesus comes from the grassroots.
And it is in the grassroots where the energy, power and support will come for biodiversity protection. While the words of president Petro and secretary general Guterres, words at the grass stalks level, are exciting and empowering, unless states and global bodies connect with and take their direction from the grassroots, the ability to achieve the goal protecting 30% of biodiversity by 2030 will be severely limited. The grassroots level, especially among Indigenous and local communities, is an essential part of the response to biodiversity loss and protection.
This is the WCC’s first year as a delegate to a Biodiversity COP, and it is the exact right time, especially now that the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development has been formed, and within it the Biodiversity and Creation Justice Working Group. The World Council of Churches is uniquely poised to bring together two often disparate worlds, high-level policy-making and grassroots organizing. We are able to hold the grass stalks and the grassroots in prayer. We are able to facilitate important conversations, such as around the need to hold up the rights and leadership of Indigenous people in biodiversity protection. And we are able to remind those in power, those of the grass stalks, that they can only find their strength and be able to achieve the goals of biodiversity protection if they ground and take their direction from the grassroots.
