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On the eve of the 22 September United Nations Summit on Climate Change representatives of faith communities around the world called on world leaders and on "all people of Earth to accept the reality of the common danger we face, the imperative and responsibility for immediate and decisive action and the opportunity to change."
"Our religions stand united in their call to care for the Earth and her peoples," the faith representatives said in a statement addressed to participants at the UN summit taking place in New York. "We stand united in our insistence that those most affected by this crisis, with fewest choices, have a just hearing and recourse," the Religious Traditions Call To Climate Action further said.
The representatives of diverse religious traditions gathered on 21 September, the International Day of Prayer for Peace, to reflect in story, song, prayer and voice about humanity’s collective response to the climate crisis.
The gathering was organized by Religions for Peace, the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, the UN chaplaincy, New York Interfaith Power and Light in cooperation with the TckTckTck campaign in which the World Council of Churches (WCC) participates.
"Climate change is a matter of justice because those who are mostly affected are the impoverished and vulnerable communities who have contributed the least to global warming and have no means to adapt to climate change. A climate debt has been accumulated over the centuries against these vulnerable communities, against the future generations and against the whole creation, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia said in a video message to the UN Summit on Climate Change.
The 22 September Summit on Climate Change was convened by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to focus heads of State and Government on the fundamental issues at stake and on the need to reach an ambitious global climate deal at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.
Full text of the Religious Traditions Call To Climate Action
