Major Superiors of Asia Discuss Environment as Justice Issue

“Integrity of Creation
An issue for Religious Today:
Climate and Global Change”

Cover letter for working document for discussion by AMOR – the organization of major superiors of Asia.What Is It?

This booklet aims to give you clear information on the issue of Climate Change and Global Warming as well as some tools to address the issue at your local, regional and national levels. Our hope is that this booklet will help you to better understand the complexity of the issues, and the need for action to save our planet.

We include some scriptural and theological resources for use in work groups and communities and some Resources for your ongoing education and formation. This booklet is not the total answer on Climate Change and Global Warming, but sometimes just knowing where to look for information is a step on the way to addressing the issue.

This booklet will attempt to answer the following questions:

* What is global warming and climate change?
* What are the causes of global warming:
* What are the consequences for social justice?
* What are the implications?
* Why should religious be concerned and involved?
* What does our faith tradition say regarding ecology?
* What can we do NOW?

Available Languages

This booklet is currently available in Basque, Croatian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portugese and Spanish. Other languages planned for the future include Cantonese, Indonesian, Irish and Japanese.

April 2002

From: Climate change working group of JPIC international inter-congregational promoters, Rome

Proposal: INTRODUCE the use of the booklet: “Integrity of Creation – an issue for Religious today – global warming and climate change” as a topic on the agenda of the meeting for the religious superiors in Asia-Pacific Region. . Encourage the booklet to be used by religious communities.

Dear Sisters & Brothers,

Peace and all good!

We are a group of JPIC promoters belonging to many religious Orders/Congregations of women and men, based in the General Curias, Rome.

One of our working groups deals with the issue of climate change. We believe it is a phenomenon dramatically affecting, and will continue to affect in increasingly more precarious ways, life on our planet, with particularly negative consequences for the poor. An international panel of more than two thousand scientists in their recent report (IPCC), December 2000, make horrifying predictions about what is happening and what will happen if greenhouse gases (especially CO_) are not reduced. The international community is showing concern, reflected in an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gases, caused by human activities (principally caused by the burning of fossil fuels), called the Kyoto protocol, still to be ratified by 55 countries in order to become international legislation. The scientists call for a 60% reduction now and the agreement only calls for a 5% reduction on the 1990 levels of greenhouses gases by 2012!

We strongly believe this is a prophetic issue and calls for the full participation of religious men and women, to bring about an ecological conversion, both at the personal and structural levels. We all need to change our lifestyles and ensure the legal framework at national and international levels to defend all forms of life.

In order to help create a consciousness among our members, the working group has drafted a booklet: Integrity of Creation – an issue for Religious today – global warming and climate change. In a simple and relatively brief way, it tries to present the problem of global warming, the causes, the consequences, why religious men and women should be concerned and what can be done both at the local community and the structural levels.

The booklet does not pretend to present all the information or arguments. Our principal objective is to help stimulate religious men and women around the world to pay more attention to the problem of climate change.

Another objective for the group is to strengthen links between JPIC commissions themselves and the JPIC promoters group here in Rome. We believe that our networking capabilities are under utilized. Those working for personal gain and profit are constantly developing and improving international mechanisms to further their aims.

Copies of the booklet in several languages can be obtained by writing to the climate change group: www.jim.mcintosh.org/globalwarming E-mail copies are also available from any one of the International JPIC congregational promoters, as well as on the internet ( being set up).

Your brothers and sisters,
JPIC Promoters working group on climate change.