Note #9137 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06094 Feb. 15, 2006
Churches urged to demand action on global climate change
Continued neglect could endanger 'life as we know it,' Kobia warns
by Stephen Brown Ecumenical News International
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil - The top official of the World Council of Churches (WCC), contending that climate change represents one of humanity's most dire threats, has appealed to denominations around to world to speak with one voice to alert political leaders to tackle the issue.
"Just as atomic weapons changed the very way we thought about life, so too the potential of major climatic changes puts life as we know it in danger," the Rev. Samuel Kobia, the WCC's general secretary, said yesterday (Feb. 15) in his main report to the ninth assembly of the church grouping here.
"This is not an issue for the future: severe consequences are already being experienced by millions of people," Kobia said. "We can prevent catastrophic climate change - if we find effective ways of combining the voice of the churches with others who can make a difference. We must call on all Christian churches to speak to the world with one voice on addressing the threat of climate change."
Kobia said in his report that human beings have abused God's gift of life.
"Our very climate is in jeopardy," he said. "In an era where there is more than enough food to go around many times over, 852 million people across the world are hungry, up from 842 million in 2003."
He added, in a reference to the Assembly theme, "God, in your grace, transform the world": "Seen with the eyes of faith, we ourselves, and this world, can and must be transformed."
The Assembly venue is famed for hosting the first World Social Forum in 2001, where opponents corporate-driven globalization met under the slogan, "Another World is Possible."
The WCC leader's appeal comes after a series of church initiatives on climate change in recent years. On Feb. 8, more than 80 U.S. evangelical Christian leaders urged action by their government.
"For most of us, until recently this has not been treated as a pressing issue or major priority," the signatories said in their statement, "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action."
"Indeed, many of us have required considerable convincing before becoming persuaded that climate change is a real problem and that it ought to matter to us as Christians."
According to news reports, some evangelical leaders had refused to sign the document.
The issue also featured in a message to the gathering from Patriarch Bartholomeos I, considered by many as the leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, who is sometimes called ?the Green Patriarch? because of his public support for environmental causes.
He said he would support the WCC's efforts "the protection of creation, which is a gift of God entrusted to humanity."
Kobia said during a news conference that the WCC had played a pioneering role in raising awareness of the dangers of climate change.
"The WCC introduced the whole issue of the environment and justice that has since been picked up by the United Nations - and now it has become mainstream," he said.
The WCC has more than 340 member churches, mostly from Protestant, Anglican and Christian Orthodox traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member but cooperates with the council in many areas. The Assembly is being held on a Catholic university campus.
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