wfn.org | [ENS] Environmental issues a Communion-wide priority,

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

May 16, 2005 -- Monday Mission

Environmental issues a Communion-wide priority, Anglican network says

By Matthew Davies

[ENS] -- Striving "to safeguard the integrity of creation" and urging
all
provinces to get involved, the Anglican Communion Environmental Network
(ACEN), meeting in Canberra, Australia, April 17-22, discussed the
church's
response to global warming and related issues such as rising sea levels,
droughts, and increased storms and floods.

"It's a matter of continuing the education," said Martha Gardner, the
network's Episcopal Church delegate and a consultant in the Episcopal
Church's Office of Peace and Justice Ministries. "People of faith are
becoming increasingly concerned about protecting the Earth and its
people."

Becoming a major player

Hosted by Bishop George Browning of Canberra and Goulbum and organized
in
association with the Anglican Communion's U.N. Observer's Office, the
meeting featured reports on issues affecting individual provinces, as
well
as current and planned local initiatives.

The network noted that current global CO2 levels have not been
experienced
for more than 400,000 years and average global temperatures rose by
almost
1°C during the twentieth century.

Delegates from Polynesia and Melanesia described how "low-lying atolls
in
Tuvalu and Kiribati are experiencing coastal flooding and contamination
of
fresh water," and that current sea-level is rising at 6 cm per decade.
Delegates from Kenya and the Philippines reported an increase in the
range
of mosquitoes, resulting in more widespread malaria -- a concern that is
attributed in part to rising temperatures.

Longer and more severe droughts were reported in Australia and Africa
which,
"in the case of Kenya, are also coupled with uncertainty over the length
and
timing of the rainy season," the network noted. "Prolonged droughts
across
Africa are already affecting local food security, causing increased
poverty
and suffering. This trend is set to intensify under projected
temperature
rises."

Delegates from the U.S., Canada, Oceania and the Philippines reported
increased storm activity severely affecting vulnerable coastal
populations.

"The Anglican Communion has a really exciting opportunity to become a
major
player in grass roots understanding of environmental issues and can
genuinely provide a force to make a difference," said David Shreeve,
director of the U.K.-based Conservation Foundation. "Canberra was
excellent
and it comes at a time when there is a surge of interest and an
encouragement from many quarters to link environmental concern with
faith
and spirituality."

The Rev. Canon Sally Bingham, a California priest and an Episcopal
Church
participant at the ACEN meeting, is executive director of the
Regeneration
Project, an interfaith ministry devoted to deepening the connection
between
ecology and faith. "Every mainstream religion has a mandate to care for
creation," she said. "It is particularly important for us to recognize
that
the poorest countries will feel a disproportionate negative impact from
global warming. Yet these are the countries that can least handle
disruptions to their food and water supplies. And, unlike the wealthier
nations, they are the least able to pioneer solutions."

Another positive feature, Shreeve noted, is the networking about
environmental issues throughout the Communion. "In Canberra there were
representatives from developed and developing countries. Some were from
huge
continents suffering from major drought; others were from tiny islands
threatened by rising sea levels," he said. "The network [gives] its
members
a unique opportunity to share and discuss a wide range of issues
presented
by colleagues with first hand knowledge. You just don't get that from
the
media."

The Anglican Observer at the United Nations, Archdeacon Taimalelagi
Tuatagaloa-Matalavea, also attended the meeting.

Communion-wide endorsement

The network was formed after the Anglican Consultative Council, the
Communion's main policy-making body, met in Hong Kong in September 2002
and
adopted a resolution -- based on a proposal presented by
Tuatagaloa-Matalavea -- which asked all churches of the Anglican
Communion
to place environmental care on their agenda. The council also requested
that
ACEN be established as an official network of the Anglican Communion.
[http://www.aco.org/acc/meetings/acc12/resolutions.cfm#s11]

The Episcopal Church's 2003 General Convention in Minneapolis passed a
resolution on sustainable development which endorsed the ACC
resolutions.
[http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution
=2003-D066]

Gardner, who is also a lay deputy to General Convention and co-chair of
the
National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Working Group, said, "The more
education and advocacy we do to change our ways, both from the public
policy
perspective...and changing our own consumer ways, the more we are going
to
help our Anglican sisters and brothers around the world."

The network is currently unfunded and Gardner is hopeful that
fundraising
efforts can be initiated. "We have a real role in the network to take
some
leadership," she said.	"I am confident we can identify some resources."

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who the network commended for
his
outstanding leadership, has warned that continued failure to protect the
earth and to resolve economic injustices within and between societies
will
lead not only to environmental collapse but also to social collapse.

Being informed

"The conference was a marvelous opportunity for study, worship,
reflection
and scientific analysis in the context of a well-informed faith
community,"
said Anglican Church of Canada representative Ken Gray. "It was
beneficial
to meet in the global south which faces specific climate-related
challenges
caused in significant part by established industrial practices in the
global
north."

Presentations were offered by leading Australian environmental experts,
including Professor Ian Lowe, emeritus professor of science, technology
and
society at Griffith University in Brisbane, and Professor Peter Cullen,
emeritus professor of the University of Canberra, where he was dean of
applied science.

"We were particularly blessed by the contributions of Australian
participants, who shared insightful and detailed scientific analysis of
the
consequences of global climate change in their region," Gray said.

Effecting change

The Rev. Canon Eric Beresford, the Anglican Communion's consultant for
ethics and president of the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova
Scotia, described the meeting as a success. "We had good representation
from
regions affected by global climate change," he said. "There is clearly a
lot
of energy and enthusiasm for the work and it was good to hear some of
the
initiatives that are taking place in a variety of places."

Out of a total of 38 Anglican provinces, 13 were represented at the
Canberra
meeting. Each regional co-coordinator agreed to work at gaining
representatives from the provinces in their region that are not
currently
represented.  The regional coordinators form the Executive Committee of
the
network, of which Bishop Browning has agreed to be the convener.

The network will also include energy points, individuals who are not
official representatives but who have knowledge, energy and commitment
to
contribute to the network.

A soon-to-be-released statement from the network meeting highlights
environmental concerns and proposed responses designed to encourage
Anglicans to play a major role in effecting change. "We commit to pray
for
one another, especially our sisters and brothers who courageously set
standards in developing countries," the statement says. "We commit
ourselves
to maintain this global network, to share resources with each other, and
to
lift the Anglican Communion to new levels of both awareness and
commitment
to these aspects of our Gospel imperative."

The statement will be presented to the June 2005 meeting of the Anglican
Consultative Council for endorsement.

Further information about the Anglican Communion Environmental Network
can
be found online at:
http://www.aco.org/ethics_technology/introducing_the_network.html.

--Matthew Davies is staff writer and web manager of Episcopal News
Service.

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