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“People of faith are called to live justly with one another. It challenges us that the climate crisis does not affect those causing it as much as others. You destroy the environment in one part of the world to thrive in another. It is a form of colonialism,” said Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, WCC programme director for Life, Justice, and Peace.
A native Zimbabwean, he has seen the environmental damage caused by the mining industry in his home country firsthand.
“The big elephant in the room is the economic assumption that continuous growth must be sustained at all cost. We need to change our consumption habits,” Mtata concluded.
Julia Rensberg, a native Sami, shared her concerns about the impact of climate change on the reindeer herders in Lapland where grazing areas have become increasingly scarce.
“Samis live with nature, and we now see our way of life being threatened,” she said.
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Julia Rensberg speaks at the seminar, alongside Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata (left) and Rev. Henrik Grape (right).
Albin Hillert/WCC
A passionate advocate for both Indigenous issues and climate justice, she is also a member of the WCC central committee, as well as the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development.
Her concerns were echoed by a young participant from the Philippines in the audience, who alluded to the rise of sea levels, threatening the life on many islands in his country.
The WCC central committee in June officially began the WCC Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action. The WCC has for many decades been an actor in climate justice, with work that includes advocacy at UN climate negotiations, sharing prayer and liturgies during Season of Creation, and theological reflection on eco-justice.
Rev. Henrik Grape, a longtime WCC senior advisor on Care for Creation, Sustainability, and Climate Justice, who moderated the seminar, pointed out that ten percent of the population on Earth is responsible for 50 percent of greenhouse emissions.
