Pause for Peace 2012

Posted on 31/05/2012 by admin

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“Obedience to the voice of the earth, of being, is more important for our future happiness

than the voices of the moment, the desires of the moment.

… being itself, our earth, speaks to us and we must listen

if we want to survive and to decipher this message of the earth.”

Pope Benedict XVI

“The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

in Rio de Janeiro [is] a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set the world

on a more equitable and sustainable path of development.”

Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General

World leaders and government officials will gather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 20-22 June 2012 for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – commonly referred to as Rio +20. Twenty years after the Earth Summit of 1992, the world will once again come together to take stock of where we have been and to forge agreements on what more needs to be done in order to sustain all life on Earth. As individuals, as institutions, and as a people, we need a change of heart to preserve and protect the planet for now and for future generations.

It is in this spirit that we offer this prayer as a preparation for, and accompaniment of, the Rio +20 Summit. It was inspired by and in part adapted from the Proposal Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth (especially its Preamble and Article 1.1 and 1.2). To help us to move beyond our habitual use of nature for development, the Bolivian government sponsored the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba for thousands of NGOs in 2010 where indigenous peoples insisted on the language of Mother Earth and the realization that we are partners with, not dominators of, the earth we need for life.

–.–.–.–.–.–.–.–

Prayer for Mother Earth as a Living Being

Creator and sustainer of all life, we are all part of Mother Earth, an indivisible, living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with a common destiny;

Response: Help us to remember that Mother Earth is a living being.

Creator and sustainer of all life, Mother Earth is the source of life, nourishment and learning, and provides everything we need to live well;

Response: Help us to remember that Mother Earth is a living being.

Creator and sustainer of all life, exploitation, abuse and contamination by humans have caused great destruction and disruption of Mother Earth, putting life as we know it today at risk;

Response: Help us to remember that Mother Earth is a living being.

Creator and sustainer of all life, in an interdependent living community it is not possible to recognize the rights of human beings alone without causing an imbalance within Mother Earth;

Response: Help us to remember that Mother Earth is a living being.

Creator and sustainer of all life, the regenerative capacity of our planet is finite and we, humans, must change our consumption and production patterns to safeguard life on Mother Earth for future generations;

Response: Help us to remember that Mother Earth is a living being.

Creator and sustainer of all life, to guarantee human rights it is necessary to recognize and defend the rights of Mother Earth and all created beings;

Response: Help us to remember that Mother Earth is a living being.

Creator and sustainer of all life, there is an urgency to take decisive, collective action to transform structures and systems that constitute threats of any kind to Mother Earth;

Response: Help us to remember that Mother Earth is a living being.

Closing prayer

Holy Wisdom and Compassionate One, in the community of life to which we belong, it is Mother Earth who sustains, contains and nurtures all beings. We ask your blessing upon world leaders and government officials who will assemble in Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations World Conference on Sustainable Development in June of this year. Inspire, guide and encourage them to recognize that the central challenges of sustainable development is the re-balancing, as equal partners, of ecology, economy and equity, especially in relation to those living in poverty, so that all life on Earth is equally respected and protected as your gift of life.

Open wide the hearts of all those who attend Rio +20 so they can hear and value each other knowing that the well-being of all life on this planet depends on our interdependence, our true and humble harmony with nature. Strengthen the voice of the many women and men, part of civil society, who have a passionate concern for the health of the earth. Give all of us the courage to welcome your dynamic Spirit so we may turn our hearts and actions to the well-being of our generous Mother Earth. Amen.

What does morality have to do with it??

Posted on 31/05/2012 by admin

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Have you ever heard of “climate ethics?” In many values-based circles, climate change and its effects are seen as both an ethical issue, and an issue of faith. Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, says that, for the Catholic Church, climate change is not only a matter of “thermometers or scientific analysis, we are talking about human beings, and the sufferings of human beings… Catholics need to know that climate change is real…” (America, Dec. 19, 2011).

So, we face a very basic truth: we live in a world that is evermore interdependent, where the actions of some of us, affect the quality of life for all of us— as well as the integrity of Earth and her resources. “Solidarity” has become a word a little over-used, and a little diluted. But Pope John Paul II’s words challenge us all, both personally, and in the way we conduct our economic and political lives: “Solidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortune of so many people both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all, and of each individual, because we are really responsible for all.”

The “common good” is not a term that is used in talking of climate change or the economy. What tends to drive decisions is national self-interest, to the exclusion of all else. But, the “common good” is a key principle in Catholic Social Teaching, and should guide our response to these critical global issues. In October 2011, the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace issued a stunning document calling for the reform of the global financial and economic system. The document reminds us often of the responsibility we have for one another: “Every individual and every community shares in promoting and preserving the common good. To be faithful to their ethical and religious vocation, communities of believers should take the lead in asking whether the human family has adequate means at its disposal to achieve the global common good.”

As we consider the damage already done to Earth’s air, water and ecosystems, it is clear that the human family’s ability to reach the global common good has been terribly compromised. In preparing for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO + 20) this June, governments submitted papers expressing their deep concerns about global climate change and their hopes for the outcome of the conference. The submission from the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) – Fiji, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga Tuvalu, Vanuatu – expressed the crisis clearly:

“Climate change is the single greatest factor undermining sustainable development… sea level rise is the most dire threat…such a scenario would redraw political borders and devastate low-lying islands in the Pacific…Rio+20 must acknowledge major gaps in implementing sustainable development summits in relation to climate change, as greenhouse gases keep on rising.”

The Pacific Islands seem a world away. But we are fellow citizens on this one Planet, Earth. When any of Earth’s citizens suffer the devastating impact of climate change, our collective humanity is diminished. Many faith traditions and values-based organizations are trying to ensure that ethical questions are part of the public discourse on climate change. The Climate Ethics Campaign is one such organization.

In its “Statement of our nation’s moral obligation to address Climate Change,” the Climate Ethics Campaign presents three significant points for each of us to consider:

Our collective moral obligation to prevent suffering and protect life
Our moral responsibility to honor principles of justice and equity; and
Our moral obligation to honor and protect the processes that make life possible.

The statement says: “To disrupt the climate that is the cornerstone of all life on Earth, and to squander the extraordinary abundance of life, richness and beauty of the Planet is morally wrong.”

The Vatican document on global financial and economic reform asks “communities of believers to take the lead in asking whether the human family has adequate means at its disposal to achieve the global common good.” As members of parishes, religious congregations, this is our responsibility: to keep asking the right questions; questions that can finally expose the lies of narrow national self-interest based on unlimited economic growth based on a reliance on fossil-fuel; and move us toward real solidarity for the sake of our common humanity, and our one precious home, Earth.

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Save the Earth and Free the People

Posted on 09/02/2012 by kevindancecp

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The Commission for Social Development continues its work. Its priority theme is “Poverty Eradication”. Today we cannot think of eradicating poverty in our world if we ignore the impact of climate change on our efforts to lift people out of poverty. Where will the money come from?

Last week we had a fascinating event “Poverty and Climate Change: Lives in the Balance.” We were reminded that climate change affects all aspects of development – environmental, social and economic. The two greatest challenges facing our generation are how to lift up people trapped in poverty and how to stabilize Earth’s climate. Climate change is a fact. There is no way to stop it. What we can, and must do, is adapt to it and make every effort to lessen the disastrous effects it has and will continue to have on the world’s most vulnerable populations.

As always, women and children make up a majority of people living in poverty. Rural women are the backbone of agriculture in the developing world. They save the seeds, plant, harvest and market the produce. It is estimated that they are responsible for approximately one-half of the world’s food supply. But the traditional weather patterns they have come to rely on have been disastrously altered.

Stories from different countries underlined the disastrous impact of climate change. Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur from the Democratic Republic of Congo said they could always rely on a nine-month rainy season, followed by three dry months. Now the rainfall is uncertain; harvesting is unpredictable. “In Kenya, each year the rains would arrive in November… but, no more.” The Ambassador of the Maldives, a nation of 1,190 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, said climate change threatens his nation’s existence. The Maldives depend upon imported food. As climate change impacts food production, and prices begin to soar, the food security of the Maldivians will be at risk.

Last year the Pontifical Justice and Peace Council issued a statement urging major economic reform entitled “Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority.” One of its recommendations calls for the taxing of financial transactions. “Such taxation would be very useful in promoting global development and sustainability according to the principles of social justice and solidarity.”

The NGO Committee for Social Development, with civil society organizations worldwide, is advocating for a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT). This would be a small tax (e.g. 0.05 percent) on all financial market transactions. When we ordinary mortals make a purchase, we pay a tax on the amount. Meanwhile, billions of dollars are bought and sold each and every day in the world’s financial centres and stock exchanges. These are completely tax-free and make the rich ever-richer. It’s time to end the free ride for the speculators!

Many economists see a Financial Transaction Tax as an innovative source of financing for development, and a practical way to help developing countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals, eradicate poverty, protect the environment and shape development that can be sustained. It would also help to reduce the destabilizing effects of downturns in the financial markets, reduce speculative trading and the wild fluctuations of asset prices in stock markets as well as in commodity prices. Over the long term, a Financial Transaction Tax could become a steady, predictable funding stream for poverty eradication.

Another potential source of funding is a reduction in current levels of military spending. In the wake of the global financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009, public spending on social development shrank, but military spending increased. To achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals it would cost US$329 billion each year – a mere 20 percent spent of the world’s spending on military each year.

In 1967, Pope Paul VI suggested that a portion of global military budgets be channeled into a global humanitarian fund for development. He told us that “development is the new name for peace.” Imagine what the world would be like today if his advice had been heeded? There can be no serious commitment to poverty eradication without addressing this issue.

The outcome document currently under negotiation by the countries that make up the Commission for Social Development makes no mention of reducing military budgets, nor does it consider any concrete proposals to finance efforts aimed at poverty eradication. The one mention of climate change in the document is strongly opposed by the United States.

I offer you a very simple way to join your voice to ours in our advocacy efforts. I encourage you to sign the online petition for the Social Protection Floor Campaign, and pass it on to your friends and associates. For more information on the Social Protection Floor, click here.

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Do we have a Future?

Posted on 20/01/2012 by kevindancecp

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The number of people in the United States who deny that human behaviour has any effect on climate change has grown alarmingly in the past two years. It shows what money, vested interests and false advertising can do! Awareness of climate change keeps on growing in the rest of the world.

“We’re facing a planetary emergency” says Owen Gaffney of International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme

The frequent news reports with pictures of people whose lives are torn apart make it hard to avoid the reality. Deadly and violent weather – floods, earthquakes, mudslides, forest fires, hurricanes and the sinister rising of sea levels force us to take the warnings seriously, rather than dismiss or play them down as in the recent past.

Elimar Pinheiro do Nascimento, director of the University of Brasilia Sustainable Development Centre, states: “Democratic regimes don’t appear to be capable of adequately addressing the issue of climate change, because of the short-term political dynamic, since environmental problems take decades to solve. Democracy is about freedom, and protecting the environment is about survival.”

Our democratically elected governments cannot see beyond their own noses, or not beyond the next time they must face their electors. So where does that leave us?

In financial crises, specialist economists shape the decisions that governments make. Central banks can adopt often unpopular monetary measures, even despite pressure from national governments. But in this deeper crisis which threatens the future of our entire planet, we don’t see environmentalists and climate experts called in to advise on what action should be taken.

If we are to have a future we will need statespersons, not bureaucrats. But dare we hope for leaders to emerge who are able to withstand the pressure from corporate driven political decisions, to ensure our survival?

We must find new mechanisms to create policies with a long-term focus to solve our environmental problems.

Prior to Rio+20, the world’s scientific community will give a comprehensive “state of the planet” assessment at the “Planet Under Pressure” conference in London Mar. 26-29. Nearly 3,000 experts from around the world will provide a report card on the health and threats to the Earth and make recommendations on what must be done to avoid disaster.

One of the first things a maturing human community must do is solve its international governance problems. Thirty leading experts on international governance are unanimous regarding the failure of the current United Nations approach of one country, one vote and the requirement of consensus before taking action or making significant decisions. ”One country can hold the entire world hostage.”

The Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer is considered the world’s most successful environmental treaty. It doesn’t use the traditional U.N. system. Decisions are made only when the majority of both the industrialised and developing nations agree. The U.N. climate negotiations need such a decision making process.

Maurice Strong who led the Rio 1992 Earth Summit had this to say: “We must rise above the lesser concerns that preempt our attention and respond to the reality that the future of human life on Earth depends on what we do, or fail to do in this generation. What we have come to accept as normal is not normal…

We must deal with this as the most dangerous security issue humanity has ever faced, with the very conditions necessary to life on Earth at risk.

Rio+20 will require a degree of cooperation beyond anything we have yet experienced at a time when competition and conflict over scare resources is escalating….The decisions and policies which determine our impacts on sustainability are primarily motivated by economic and financial considerations. The importance of the actions to be taken at Rio + 20 requires that they be firmly rooted in our deepest moral and ethical principles. – UN General Assembly Rio +20 Event, New York, October 25th, 2011.

The world has seen major changes since 1992. Today more and more people think of themselves as ‘global or planetary citizens’. With knowledge comes responsibility. Remember, there is a voice that is stronger than the power of money or the force of corporations! That is the voice of truth and moral decency.
Rio + 20 will need all the prayer and our best efforts if it is to succeed in avoiding disaster for the earth and all who call the Earth “home”.

It’s time to speak up and let our governments know what we expect of them to prevent the threat of global disaster. Tell them not to play politics in Rio. Tell them to remember that we have only one planet and we are all involved! It’s time for us to speak up!

Passionists International hopes to have a significant presence in Rio.

Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.

Kevin Dance, C.P.

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United Nations Conference on Climate Change, Durban, South Africa,

Posted on 29/11/2011 by admin

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The United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change began yesterday, November 28th 2011 in Durban, South Africa. Nearly 10,000 people are expected to attend the conference which will continue until December 7th 2011. Those attending include representatives of the world’s governments, international organizations and civil society. The discussions will seek to advance, in a balanced fashion, the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the Bali Action Plan, agreed at COP 13 in 2007, and the Cancun Agreements, reached at the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. (COP 16) last December.

Almost two decades ago, countries joined an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to cooperatively consider what they could do to limit average global temperature increases and the resulting climate change, and to cope with whatever impacts were, by then, inevitable. This was in 1992.

By 1995, countries realized that emission reductions provisions in the Convention were inadequate. They launched negotiations to strengthen the global response to climate change, and, two years later, adopted the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol legally binds developed countries to emission reduction targets. The Protocol’s first commitment period started in 2008 and ends in 2012.

What happens beyond 2012 is one of the key issues governments of the 195 Parties to the Convention are currently negotiating. Climate change is a complex problem, which, although environmental in nature, has consequences for all spheres of existence on our planet. It either impacts on– or is impacted by– global issues, including poverty, economic development, population growth, sustainable development and resource management. It is not surprising, then, that solutions come from all disciplines and fields of research and development.

Important in this world conversation is the crisis in Africa with extreme heat and drought, issues of small island states disappearing into deep waters and shifts in extreme weather patterns throughout the world. At the very heart of the response to climate change, however, lies the need to reduce emissions. In 2010, governments agreed that emissions need to be reduced so that global temperature increases are limited to below 2 degrees Celsius.

The human-caused global-warming trend of climate change is scientifically established. Human beings are not distinct from nature, but are part of nature, and are now affecting nature in an alarmingly negative way. Impacts from global warming are now being felt and will soon become far worse. All countries will be increasingly affected in a myriad of severe, adverse ways: economically, environmentally, militarily, politically, medically, and psychologically. Global stability is threatened. There is no safe haven.

Action

Write to your country’s representative at Durban:

Canada: Peter Kent, Environmental Minister; email: minister@ec.gc.ca

United States: Todd Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change; go to US.state.gov, go to contact-us and email your comment addressing Mr. Stern.

Sample Email Letter:

Dear ______

I am very concerned about Climate Change and how our country is contributing to Global Warming. With many other colleagues, I highly recommend that you support the following important issues in the concluding document at Durban:

Recognize that unmitigated global warming will produce widespread conflicts over food, water and resources, with consequent population displacements and other devastating effects.
Adopt fair, ambitious, binding verifiable accords at by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to achieve sustainable safe cumulative levels, incorporating equitably differentiated responsibilities for developed and developing countries, and substantial penalties for excessive emissions.
Adopt and implement adequate, equitable, and binding financial and technical commitments by developed countries to developing countries for mitigation and adaptation, with effective and gender-sensitive distribution of aid, and joint cooperative responsibility. Priority goals are:

Security (peace and avoiding armed conflicts, avoiding mass migrations),
Social Justice, Intergenerational Equity, and Environment Preservation (achieving Millennium Development Goals with food, water, and energy security; sustainable economic development; extra support for women and children; education on climate change and environment to inform and change behavior; public health; mental health; gender-balanced; support for small farmers and non-intensive agriculture; rights of island and coastal peoples; sustainable forestry; conservation; humane treatment of animals, avoiding species extinction, maintaining biodiversity).

Sincerely,

___

Resources:

Adapted from UN resources, UN NGO Committee on Sustainable Development and Sean McDonagh, SSC’s first article on Durban.

www.trunity.net

Pope Benedict Calls for “Credible” Action at Durban Talks to Address “Disturbing” Climate Change (thinkprogress.org)

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Harmony with Nature: Respect for Mother Earth

Posted on 02/05/2011 by kevindancecp

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On April 20, the UN General Assembly held an interactive dialogue on the theme “Harmony with Nature”. April 22 is now celebrated as International Mother Earth Day, following a resolution adopted by the UN in 2009. The celebration invites us to intentionally focus on respect for the earth, our mother, who sustains us.

Ambassador Pablo Solon of Bolivia opened the debate by quoting Victor Hugo: “It is a huge sadness that nature speaks and humans do not listen.” He asked three basic questions:

What is nature? Is it a thing, a source of resources, a system, a home, a community of living and interdependent beings?
Are there rules in nature, laws that govern its integrity, relationships, reproduction and transformation?
Are we, as states and as a society, recognizing and respecting these rules of nature?

Mr. Solon said nature cannot be submitted to the wills of the laboratory; science and technology are capable of everything, including destroying the world itself; “all technologies should be evaluated on their environmental, social, and economic impacts.” The future lies not in scientific inventions but in our capacity to listen to nature which is ruthless when it is goes ignored.” He concluded with Albert Einstein’s words: “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” Solon’s response: “We have not come here to watch a funeral!”

The theme: ‘Ways of promoting a holistic approach to sustainable development in harmony with nature.” was developed by four excellent presentations. Here are a few thought from each.

Ms. Vandana Shiva, Quantum Physicist and Philosopher, India
Laws of the market are in direct collision with the laws of nature; harmony with nature is an imperative not a luxury; earth rights are human rights—protecting the earth also protects the rights of people to food and water and all that is necessary for our survival; limitless resource exploitation leads to resources grab; around the world today, people are rising up to keep capitalism from grabbing resources; extreme consumption by humans leads to extreme response from nature. Recommended book: “The Death of Nature” by Carolyn Merchant.

Peter Brown, Professor, McGill University, Canada
We must take holism seriously; the current neo-classical framework is failing because (1) it is a-scientific, based in 17th century science and 18th-century theology; (2) it seeks more growth when growth is already too much (de-growth is essential); (3) it is grotesquely unfair to the poor, to future generations and other species; (4) it measures the wrong things; (5) it is unsustainable financially, socially and ecologically; we should act on the principles of the Earth Charter. He ended by quoting Thomas Berry on the interdependence of all beings within the community of life.

Cormac Cullinan, Environmental Lawyer, South Africa
We are living on borrowed time; humanity has reached the point where our modifications of earth’s resources mean our offspring are likely not to survive in the future; our change of thought and actions must be in terms of millions of years, not just a year or decade; the current transition we are experiencing is unparalleled in the history of our species; we need a major shift in world view—at present everything revolves around humans; humans need to see that the earth is the centre; global legal instruments are not supporting real change, only supporting political positioning; governance systems are not fit for the purpose any longer; Rights of Nature movement calls for respect of the rights of all people to live and participate with nature.

Ms. Riane Eisler, Author, USA
The earth is calling us to new thinking. “We cannot solve problems with the same thinking that created them” (Einstein); In this time of dislocation we must challenge the economics of domination/exploitation of people and nature which cannot be sustained and will lead to an evolutionary dead end; ‘trickle down’ does not work—akin to paupers eating crumbs from the plate of the rich and being told to be content; old ways of thinking and current paradigms—especially economic policies, are ‘Weapons of Mass Distraction’!

Kevin Dance

Watch Video:

(Part 1/2) Interactive Dialogue of the General Assembly on Harmony with Nature

(Part 2/2) Interactive Dialogue of the General Assembly on Harmony with Nature

Global Day of Action on Military Spending

Posted on 05/04/2011 by maryanncp

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The Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of the Secretariat of the Unions of Superiors General of Women and Men (USG/UISG), located in Rome, is making an effort to bring a matter of grave concern to our attention. A Global Day of Action on Military Spending has been set for April 12, 2011. The date was selected to coincide with the release of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s annual report, which will include revised figures on military spending. On this day, people from all over the world will engage in action to focus public, political and media attention on the crying need for new global priorities.

According to the Global Issues web site, there has been a 45 percent increase in global military expenditures over the past decade. At the same time, poverty, hunger, violence and climate change have escalated at an alarming rate. It would seem that at the end of the day, this level of military spending has assured instability and inequity, but has done little to secure peace.

In 2010, $1.53 trillion was spent on the military around the world. To put this number in perspective, the World Food Summit estimates that $30 billion a year could eradicate world hunger. That is what our world spends on the military in a single week. In light of the extent of world hunger and poverty, we consider such a price tag as ethically bankrupt. There are too many other priorities that require financial inversion: poverty, climate change, job creation.

While it is true that somebody benefits from military spending—but, it is not people living in poverty. Lack of the basic necessities of life—clean water, sanitation, health care, education, employment—are a great threat to international peace and security.

Possible Actions:
Sign petition: Arms Down, sponsored by Religions for Peace campaign for shared security. Go to: www.religionsforpeace.org, click on the Arms Down button.
Participate in an activity/action in your region on April 12 the Global Day of Action on Military Spending. Go to: http://demilitarize.org. Canadians go to : www.ceasefire.ca/?cat=235

Plan a prayer or an action in own your community.

For more information:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: www.sipri.org

Global Issues: http://www.globalissues.org/

Feed Them Yourselves!

Posted on 04/02/2011 by kevindancecp

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Lester Brown is expert in understanding the stresses placed on the earth and human life because of climate change: more mouths to feed and damage to the land and water resources of the world. His new book is World on the Edge: How to Prevent an Environmental and Economic Collapse

Some sobering facts:

The U.N. FAO food price index for December 2010 reached an all-time high.
The United States harvested 416 million tons of grain in 2009. 119 million tons went to ethanol distilleries to produce fuel for cars. This could feed 350 million people for a year.
The world loses one third of its topsoil faster than new soil is forming through natural processes. This seriously affects food production. Two huge dust bowls are forming, one across northwest China, west Mongolia and central Asia; the other in central Africa. Each of these dwarfs the U.S. ‘dust bowl’ of the 1930s.

World population peaked at 2 percent per year around 1970 and has now fallen below 1.2 percent per year in 2010. But we still add 80 million people each year. So tonight, there will be 219,000 extra mouths to feed at the dinner table, and the same tomorrow. Many of them will be greeted with empty plates. This will tax the skills of farmers and test the limits of the earth’s land and water resources.

Today it is not wars between superpowers that threaten our future. Now food shortages, speculation in grain commodities by greedy people eager to make a profit, rising food prices, and the political turmoil that hunger brings. Our governments must quickly shift priorities from investing in military to invest in climate change mitigation, water efficiency, soil conservation. Or our future looks bleak.

Our governments must quickly hear and act on US President Dwight Eisenhower’s words in 1961:

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies—in the final sense—a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.”

Crop ecologists give us this formula: For each 1 degree Celsius temperature rise above the optimum during the growing season, we can expect 10 percent less in grain yields. As temperatures soared far above the norm in Russia during the summer of 2010, their harvest was decimated.

As people become more affluent they eat more meat; they drive cars that need fuel; grain is diverted to fuel cars and not people. It’s time to push for earth-care to turn back the damage done by soil erosion, depletion of water sources, croplands taken over for non-farm uses; crop-withering heat waves, melting mountain glaciers and ice sheets.

How will our governments hear? What does all this ask of us? It calls us to inform ourselves, to notice, to speak up and call the decision makers in our countries to account. To the disciples, Jesus said “Feed them yourselves” when they reported a food shortage to feed the multitude.

Kevin Dance, C.P.

UN chief pleads for global agreement on climate change

Posted on 08/12/2010 by kevindancecp

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UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras

“The longer we delay, the more we will pay – economically … environmentally … and in human lives,” So Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on government negotiators at the United Nations climate change conference in Cancún, Mexico. He challenged them in these words: “I am deeply concerned that our efforts have been insufficient … that despite the evidence … and many years of negotiation … we are still not rising to the challenge. The world, particularly the poor and vulnerable, cannot afford the luxury of waiting for the perfect agreement…Now, more than ever, we need to connect the dots between climate … poverty … energy … food … water”.

We cannot hope to meet the commitments our countries made in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to turn back the scourge of extreme poverty, without also addressing the wild weather events associated with climate change.

Time is running out if we are to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

Floods and mudslides strike all over the world – China, Haiti, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, Madeira, Tajikistan……We must do more than offer our condolences. We must go to the root causes!

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that greenhouse gas emissions must peak within the next decade, then decrease substantially, if we are to limit the average temperature rise to two degrees above pre-industrial levels. This calls for positive action by every country.

Under the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), industrialized countries committed themselves to reduce greenhouse gases. The Protocol expires in 2012 and its replacement is under negotiation. We must all reach beyond selfishness in the service of the common good. The UN must work with the private sector, with civil society and NGOs and governments to make the changes in our lifestyles and levels of consumption to turn the tide.

It is time to stop pretending. We must look again at our God-given responsibility to care for, protect and nurture the gift of the earth. It is time for each of us to call our governments to make the hard decisions that will place the good of our planet over profit and uncontrolled consumption.

Kevin Dance, C.P. December 8^th.

Action for Girls

Posted on 13/07/2010 by maryanncp

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The July, 2010 issue of Action for Girls the newsletter of the Working Group on Girls and its International Network for Girls is now available.

Articles include:

WGG Prepares Fact Sheet on Girls and MDGs – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend the Millennium Development Goals Summit on 20-22 September 2010 in New York City to accelerate progress toward the achievement of the MDGs by 2015. To prepare for the Summit in September, on 14-15 June the General Assembly held Informal Interactive Hearings with representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations, which provided the governments with clear, concise statements on how to move forward to achieve the MDGs. WGG distributed to the participants a fact sheet on the eight MDGs entitled “Out of the MDG Shadows: Girls and Why They Matter” For each of the eight MDGs the fact sheet lists Gaps in Progress and Recommendations.

Climate Change Affects the Girl Child – It is an acknowledged fact that when climate change strikes, people living in poverty, 70% of whom are women, are in the frontlines. Girls, however, are rarely mentioned in these accounts of climate change. Why?

Ritha Baraka, Social Worker from the Congo, Speaks at WGG - Ritha Baraka, a social worker at Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), spoke about her work with raped and sexually abused women and girls at the WGG meeting on 6 May 2010. Speaking with Baraka were Scott Blanding and Greg Heller (Women in War Zones), who have made a film about sexual violence against women in war zones that features Panzi Hospital.

Girls Respond to CSW 54 – Dozens of girls from all over the world had the opportunity in March 2010 to attend the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York City. Thanks to the NGOs that sponsored their participation, they were able to talk with girls with the same interests coming from different cultures and having different backgrounds. Together they built a web of contacts and connections, learned about their human rights as girls, and improved their skills of advocacy at the United Nations.

STEM Will Be Theme of CSW in 2011 – The 55th session of the CSW in 2011 (28 February through 11 March) will have as its theme: “Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s access to full employment and decent work.”

WGG Member Joins Plan Advisory Panel – Catherine Moore and Mary Ann Strain, co-chairs of The Working Group on Girls, are proud to announce that Yvonne Rafferty, Professor of Psychology at Pace University, who represents the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), has been appointed to Plan International’s “Because I am a Girl” advisory panel.

Visit http://www.girlsrights.org/Newsletter.html to read, download or print a copy.

How to Help Congo (thedailybeast.com)