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Bishops: All have job to do in fixing climate crisis BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
T The 2012 debutantes of Holy Rosary School in Edenvale, Johannesburg, spent many hours assisting the Santa Shoebox Project 2011, packing and wrapping presents for many special children throughout Gauteng. This has become an annual tradition for “the Debs” at the school and, according to the school, the project grows every year.
Ghana oil find may be bad news
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HANA’S bishops have urged their country’s government to make judicious use of its new revenue from oil and gas. Last year’s oil discovery off the coast of Ghana’s Western region “is raising the political temperature” in the country, the Ghana Bishops’ Conference said in a statement. The “early signs” of the government’s reaction to its new status as an oil-producing nation “give cause for apprehension”, said the statement, signed by the conference president, Bishop Joseph Osei-Bonsu of Konongo-Mampong. “The debates in parliament on the question of whether a fixed percentage of these resources should be reserved for the development of the Western region and government tussles” with international oil companies “suggest that we are in danger of repeating the mistakes associated in oil production elsewhere in Africa, with ominous consequences,” the bishops said. “The oil find should ordinarily be good
news,” they said, noting that “countries like Norway have shown how, with good governance, the additional resources which are made available can be harnessed to create a nation at peace with itself.” Ghana’s government must “factor the real concerns of the people into the contracts with the oil companies and the management of the oil revenues for the benefit of all,” the bishops said. To ensure accountability, the government needs to publish regularly all information regarding contracts, exploration and planned production activities as well as annual audited accounts of its fiscal activities, they said. “The Western region, where the oil and gas have been found, should be given the attention it deserves in terms of development and infrastructure,” the bishops said, noting the “deplorable state of most of the roads” in the region. The bishops called on the government to develop a strategic national vision shared and owned by all Ghanaians.—CNS
Pope to light Christmas tree with an iPad BY KRISTIN GOBBERG
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ITH a tap on an iPad, Pope Benedict will light the world’s largest electronic Christmas tree in the Italian town of Gubbio without having to leave his home in Vatican City. The city and diocese of Gubbio announced at a news conference that the pope would light the tree via a video link set up by the Vatican Television Centre. The tree-lighting ceremony will take place on the evening of December 7, the eve of the Immaculate Conception. From his apartment in Vatican City, the pope will turn on the tree using an application on the iPad 2. Before lighting the tree, the pope will send a video message to the citizens of Gubbio thanking the volunteers on the committee who organised the event and who have been responsible for setting up the tree for decades. The electronic tree extends more than
HE local Church has joined forces with eco-activists and other faiths to call for swift and positive action on climate change as the world’s leaders converge on Durban for the COP17 climate conference in November and December to discuss the global weather phenomenon. In a pastoral letter issued for the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) ahead of COP17, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg, said the world and all of creation was now threatened by climate change. “While climate change is a process that occurs naturally, there is now general agreement that human activities are causing it to happen much faster than it naturally would,” said Archbishop Tlhagale, president of the SACBC. Activities including the excessive burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, petrol and gas; intensive livestock farming and deforestation have contributed to climate change— the effects of which “we are already feeling”, Archbishop Tlhgale said. “This global climate crisis poses a great spiritual challenge to all Christians, people of all faiths and all people of goodwill, as it is the consequence of the destruction of God’s creation in which we have all participated in one way or another. It calls for a change of mindset, and a change of lifestyle to reduce our dependence on fossil-fuel energy like coal and oil.” The SACBC has called on all parishes, communities and organisations at local, regional and national levels, as well as individual Catholics, to be proactive through reducing greenhouse gases by growing trees to absorb carbon. In addition, the bishops said individuals should “grow vegetables and crops organically to reduce the use of chemical-based fertilizers; and share the food thus grown with the hungry and malnourished in your midst”. Archbishop Tlhagale said as this global climate change crisis continues to grow, individuals should link their efforts to “those of national governments and the United Nations to achieve the goal of lessening the carbon footprint (which is our contribution to carbon emissions) on the planet for our sake, for the sake of future generations and that of all living beings”.
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The electronic Christmas tree which the pope will light with a tap on his iPad. 610m upon the face of Mount Igino near Gubbio, and uses more than 8 700m of electrical cable. Built in 1981, it was recognised in 1991 by the Guinness World Records as the world’s largest Christmas tree and stays lit until the feast of the Epiphany on January 6.—CNS
eanwhile, an interfaith movement, We Have Faith, is acting for climate justice, in time for COP17. The campaign, led by African faith leaders including Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, calls on the world’s governments to take a committed moral stand and “reach an agreement to curb climate change in order to secure life it all its fullness for future generations”. The campaign will culminate in a rally on November 27 where a petition will be handed over to the leaders attending the COP17 talks. The event will also be attended by cyclists from the SACBC’s Justice and Peace Department who have cycled from Johannesburg as part of the Catholic organised Ride for Climate Justice as well as members
of a youth caravan travelling from Nairobi to Durban. Justice and Peace’s advocacy officer Shaka Dzebu said the department has “environmental justice as one of its priorities. Therefore we find it necessary to respond and organise action around COP17”. Publicist Jo-Anne Smetherham of We Have Faith said climate change was the greatest threat humanity has ever faced. “Climate change is already causing unpredictable, extreme weather like severe storms, heat waves, droughts, floods, tornadoes and heavy snow. Africans, who have done the least to cause climate change, will be the most devastated,” she said. The local climate activists will hand over a petition, which can be signed at www.wehavefaithactnow.org, to the world leaders at COP17. The petition calls for a fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement to be signed by all countries. Bishops from the SACBC have already shown their support by signing the petition. Ms Smetherham said the petition further calls for clear short- and long-term targets for carbon emission reductions and to ensure “there is adequate finance for adaption in Africa. Such finance should come from historically polluting nations in recognition of their ecological debt and be additional to existing development aid, governed exclusively and equitably under the United Nations.” With South Africa as the world’s 13th highest global emitter of carbon dioxide, the petition calls for a demonstration of political will to pledge much higher targets of renewable energy production, by phasing out coal and nuclear production, and by developing the job creation potential of renewable energy. Mr Dzebu said the Justice and Peace Department was “very happy we’re going to be showing that everybody can take a stand, and make a difference”. The cyclists have travelled mostly through rural areas where many people feel they’re victims of climate change. Ms Smetherham said there was a profound need for a renewed vision on climate change, one based on the moral principle of justice and equity, “to ensure the future of humanity and of all life on our planet”. She added that protecting the planet is demanded of us by all faiths. “Only when all human beings hold each other’s lives and the lives of other beings to be deeply sacred, will our common destiny be secure.”