On October 15th a meeting was held at the Pontifical University of Comillas-Madrid by several members of UNIJES (Spanish Jesuit Institutions of Higher Education) under the theme of “Natural Resources and Sustainability”. This was a preliminary meeting in order to assess the possibilities to establish a permanent working group in the framework of UNIJES. After a certain time of informal conversations finally we moved forward in order to gather representatives from UNIJES institutions that are dealing with “sustainability” at different levels.
Category: Reflections
Stop being concerned about your benefit!
Simon Lochbrunner, SJ is a theologian and formerly worked as a certified organic farmer in Southern Germany. He is currently assisting at St. Ansgar Youth pastoral (KSJ) in Hamburg. Contact: simon.lochbrunner@jesuiten.org
Amazonia under threat
Today, the predation and violence against indigenous and traditional peoples of the Amazonia continues with the outrageous activity of construction of infrastructures and transport facilities, especially with large projects as the IIRSA (Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America).
The IIRSA emerged at a meeting of Latin American Heads of State held in Brasilia in 2000. They agreed to create a process of political, social and economic development of transport infrastructure, energy and communication across the continent, creating new export routes to reduce transport costs and thus achieve greater competitiveness in world markets. The estimated cost in 2009 was US $ 74,500 million, financed by several regional and international institutions as the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the World Bank.
For whom the bell tolls
Lack of political will and exaggerated expectations could explain the failure to achieve a fair, binding and ambitious agreement at the Copenhagen Conference.
As Archbishop Desmond Tutu began the concluding prayer at the ecumenical service on Sunday December the 13th, Copenhagen Cathedral bells started to ring, 350 times. Simultaneously, hundreds of Churches in Denmark joined the Cathedral bells – also ringing 350 times. 350 is a symbolic number for environment campaigners: 350 parts per million is deemed the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, so as to avoid runaway climate change.
We sink or swim together
The schedule of UN meetings before the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change shows how intense is the negotiation process: 1-12 June, UN climate negotiations in Bonn; 21-25 September, UN Climate Summit in New York; 28 September – 9 October, UN negotiations in Bangkok; 2- 6 November, final round in Barcelona; and 7 – 18 December, the Copenhagen Conference itself. We are entering a critical phase of the Copenhagen preparations at international and European level and any agreement will require energy, diplomatic skills, and generosity.
Crisis Requires Creativity
Andreas Carlgren, Swedish Centre Party, became member of the Swedish parliament in 1994. Since 2006, he has been minister for environment in Sweden. He is also a member of St Eugenia catholic parish in Stockholm.
This interview was first published in the Jesuit review Signum (5/2010) and has been shorted for EcoJesuit. See the full text version here.
The relation and role of the Church in Creation today
Reynaldo “Rey” Raluto shares with ESSCNews some of his thoughts about Creation – our relation to it and its role today, as he finishes his doctoral studies in theology at the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) in preparation for his teaching assignment in St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Cagayan de Oro. Rey is a priest from the Diocese of Malaybalay and is doing his doctoral research on the ecological perspective on liberation theology in the Philippine context.