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Dear Excellence’s, Distinguished guests, Dear colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning to you in Geneva, maybe good day or good evening to all of you participating online.
On behalf of the organizers I welcome you to the workshop called Caring for the Earth, Transforming Lives: Linking Faith & Natural Regeneration
I’m Marianne Ejdersten, director of communication in the World Council of Churches and I have the honour to great you.
Allow me first of all to express my sincere gratitude on behalf of the leadership of the World Council of Churches to all of you present in Geneva and on-line from all over the world. And especially to our co-organizers Right Livelihood, Global EverGreening Alliance, Earth Trusteeship Working Group, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, World Vision International, and OikoDiplomatique.
Thanks to Rev. Dr Mikie Roberts for leading the opening prayer.
We are welcoming you to this workshop in order to help churches and faith-based communities to respond to the challenges of climate change.
Being a Hybrid event that can be accessed and participated in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese, I welcome all- those who are present in person and those who have joined online from various regions of the world, speaking in different languages.
Our technical team are stand-by both on-site and online if you need any support.
We acknowledge all the religious leaders from diverse Faiths, the prominent practitioners, experts and advocates dedicated to caring for the Earth and natural regeneration, and all those participating in contributing and learning.
The high level of expertise gathered in this workshop will help bringing awareness and visible collaboration between faith-based organizations, churches, civil society, international organizations and activists.
We have a very innovative programme- rooted in spirituality, dealing with practical examples of solutions to life-threatening challenges we face today, shared by experts and practitioners from the frontline of our struggles to save our living planet.
The programme will allow you to reflect on the topic in the context of your faith. You will be exposed to key initiatives from churches and faith communities that promote sustainable agriculture, sustainable food systems, land regeneration and land-related actions to promote climate resilience and bio-diversity.
Call to collaborate and act
I will share a few remarks and I begin with quoting the Bible
Psalm 24: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas and established it on the water”.
And according to the Islamic teachings, the Holy Quran narrates that Almighty Allah created, the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, in six days.
All Holy Scriptures remind us that the Earth was not exclusively created for human beings but is created for all creatures- and we have the responsibility to ensure that we care for and nurture Creation.
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. Human beings, created in God’s own image, are called to serve as faithful and responsible caretakers of God’s precious unique creation, of which we are at the same time dependent on the health of the whole natural world.
A narrow understanding of our relationship with Creation must be revised to a whole of life understanding, to achieve a sustainable global ecosystem.
As Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity, we are called to metanoia and a renewed and just relationship with Creation that expresses itself in our practical life.
We are running out of time for this metanoia to take place.
In the last days we have received several urgent messages, requests for prayers and actions, some of them are visible in media but not all of them. I will share a few examples:
On 2 May: Rwandan churches express pain after floods killed 130 people
Accounts tell of entire families being killed or injured, and a desperate need for basic services for thousands of people left homeless by the flooding. More than 5,000 houses have been swept away, according to the authorities, following reports of hundreds of people missing.
I quote The Right Rev. Mugabo, bishop of the Lutheran Church in Rwanda who said in an interview:
“It is so sad that so many people have lost their lives in the flood disaster. Many families are also affected. We are praying for them.”
On 8 May, the authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo said the death toll from the devastatting flooding had surpassed 400 in what is becoming one of the worst climate disasters in the central African country.
Bishop Bulambo Lembe–of the Church of Christ in Bukavu, eastern Congo said “This is an emergency. The floods and mudslides were so sudden. No one had anticipated them,” “We have spoken with churches in Kalehe territory and they urgently need food, shelter—especially for children—and medicines.”
I can add many more examples to this list.
The climate emergency is an ethical, moral and spiritual crisis, manifested in a fixation on profit.
We are running out of time.
Christ’s love calls us to deep solidarity and a quest for justice for those who have contributed to this emergency the least, yet suffer the most, physically, existentially, and ecologically, through a transformation of systems and lifestyles.
Indigenous Peoples are among the first to face the direct consequences of climate change, due to their dependence upon, and close relationship with, the environment and its resources.
However, Indigenous Peoples and the role they play in combating climate change through the restoration of the wholeness of creation, are rarely considered. This must change.
The Covid-19 pandemic caused major economic impacts globally.
There is a danger that the pandemic and the war in Ukraine may be used as excuses for failure to achieve the SDGs. Churches and faith based organizations must remain agents of hope and voices for justice and accountability.
The world is at a tipping point nearing or even may already have passed the point of causing irreversible changes to the world that threatens the integrity of Life on Earth as we know it. How we live, cultivate, eat, drink, consume, manage and share resources all have profound implications on our living planet.
We have to mobilise our communities with a sense of urgency and purpose to reverse this destructive trend.
Today's discussions will help us recover what the Earth provides us and nurture Life on the planet we call home.
You play a crucial role today. Get to know each other and develop new partnerships across disciplines, regions, religions and contexts.
Please participate in contributing, listening and sharing from your contexts.
Let us transform our lives and let us transform our communities; Let us work together to make this happen.
We, the co-organisers, are committed to this venture and assure you that we will walk the talk!
I wish you all the best for the day!
Thanks for your attention.
