Ecojesuit is organizing Faith at the Climate Frontiers: Consequences for Oceania and Asia, a 90-minute event on 8 November in Glasgow with Ecojesuit COP26 delegates and partners, contributing to the calls of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and the Vulnerable Twenty Group for stronger global efforts to tackle climate threats.
This Ecojesuit event provides a platform to discuss COP26 updates on Oceania and Asia and share the voices from these regions on the challenges they are experiencing from the impact of a changing climate. Participants will also explore how a communal and interfaith response can strengthen these voices and actions from Oceania and Asia, following a process of synodality and solidarity.
In Oceania, its Small Island Nations increasingly experience sea-level rise, seabed mining, and extreme weather events. Similarly in Asia, climate events impact vulnerable communities through flooding and landslides, with destruction of its forests, coastal areas, and the greater biodiversity that sustain all lives. As communities struggle to adapt, global efforts need to address these concerns at the core.
These concerns are interconnected by way of the “river above” which is the Pacific Ocean – the life, the river of Asia feeding all rivers, seasons and lives. The surface area and ocean currents absorb energy and generate thermals and other air flows, forming the weather patterns and events while sustaining their movement westward. This flow is life-giving and life-taking, especially as the climate is changing and resources are exhausted. Addressing these concerns will only be possible if Oceania and Asia act together.
As shared in a recent event that the River above Asia and Oceania Ecclesial Network (RAOEN) organized, “(c)reating a space for synodality through a dialogue between local voices and Church and ecumenical leaders strengthens collaborations and commitments amongst groups with a common desire to care for the oceans and forests, and in the peripheral communities of Oceania and Asia, the cry of the Earth and cry of the poor are most deeply felt.”
With the COP26 climate talks facing huge concerns and questions as to what can be meaningfully accomplished, there is a need to amplify efforts for a steadfast and hope-filled commitment to push for change and accountability, and for the inclusion of all voices and concerns in the global response to the climate crisis.
To join the Ecojesuit event Faith at the Climate Frontiers: Consequences for Oceania and Asia, please register through this link bit.ly/FaithClimateFrontiers.
The event will also be livestreamed in the Ecojesuit Facebook page and will be held on 8 November 2021, Monday, 8:30-10:00 am Glasgow/London (9:30-11:00 am Rome, 2:00-3:30pm New Delhi, 4:30-6:00 pm Manila, 7:30-9:00 pm Sydney, 8:30-10:00 pm Suva) in line with the COP26 daily theme on “Adaptation, Loss, and Damage” and will be accessible to both in-person and virtual participants.
The Ecojesuit event is organized in collaboration with RAOEN, Jesuit Missions UK, Ignatian Spirituality Centre, Christian Life Community, the Pacific Conference of Churches, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference, the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania, Caritas, and the Institute of Environmental Science for Social Change.
