wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Statement on eco-justice and ecological debt

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World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 02/09/2009 12:56:56

>STATEMENT ON ECO-JUSTICE AND ECOLOGICAL DEBT

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee adopted a
"Statement on eco-justice and ecological debt" on Wednesday, 2
Sept. The statement proposes that Christians have a deep moral
obligation to promote ecological justice by addressing our debts
to peoples most affected by ecological destruction and to the
earth itself. The statement addresses ecological debt and
includes hard economic calculations as well as biblical,
spiritual, cultural and social dimensions of indebtedness.

The statement identifies the current unprecedented ecological
crises as being created by humans, caused especially by the
agro-industrial-economic complex and the culture of the North,
characterized by the consumerist lifestyle and the view of
development as commensurate with exploitation of the earth's
so-called "natural resources". Churches are being called upon to
oppose with their prophetic voices such labeling of the holy
creation as mere "natural resources".

The statement points out that it is a debt owed primarily by
industrialized countries in the North to countries of the South
on account of historical and current resource-plundering,
environmental degradation and the dumping of greenhouse gases and
toxic wastes.

In its call for action the statement urges WCC member churches
to intervene with their governments to drastically reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and to adopt a fair and binding deal at
the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Additionally the statement calls upon the international
community to ensure the transfer of financial resources to
countries of the south to refrain from oil drilling in fragile
environments. Further on, the statement demands the cancellation
of the illegitimate financial debts of the southern countries,
especially for the poorest nations as part of social and
ecological compensation.

In a 31 August hearing on "ecological debt" during the WCC
Central Committee meeting in Geneva, Dr Maria Sumire Conde from
the Quechua community of Peru shared some ways that the global
South has been victimized by greed und unfair use of its
resources. In the case of Peru, Sumire said mining has had
particularly devastating effects, such as relocation, illness,
polluted water,and decreasing biodiversity.

The concept of ecological debt has been shaped to measure the
real cost that policies of expansion and globalization have had
on developing nations, a debt that some say industrialized
nations should repay. Dr Joan Martinez Alier, a professor at the
Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain, said climate change,
unequal trade, "bio-piracy", exports of toxic waste and other
factors have added to the imbalance, which he called "a kind of
war against people around the world, a kind of aggression."

Martinez went on saying: "I know these are strong words, but
this is true." He beseeched those present, at the very least not
to increase the existing ecological debt any further.

The WCC president from Latin America, Rev. Dr Ofelia Ortega of
Cuba, said ecological debt was a spiritual issue, not just a
moral one. "The Bible is an ecological treatise" from beginning
to end, Ortega said. She described care for creation as an "axis"
that runs through the word of God. "Our pastoral work in our
churches must be radically ecological," she said.

>Full text of the statement:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=7154

More on the 31 August hearing on ecological debt:
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/ecological-debt-is-a-spir.html

>WCC countdown to climate justice:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/climatechange

WCC programme work on poverty, wealth and ecology:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3117

More information on the 26 August - 2 September 2009 Central
Committee meeting:
http://www.oikoumene.org/cc2009

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.