Religious leaders press for binding pact on climate change

NEW YORK (RNS) Representatives from various faith traditions, gathered this week in conjunction with United Nations meetings on climate change, urged political leaders to adopt “strong, binding targets” for the reduction of greenhouse gases. The Sept. 21 statement by religious leaders called upon industrialized nations “to act responsibly in mitigation efforts, by making the largest […]

NEW YORK (RNS) Representatives from various faith traditions, gathered this week in conjunction with United Nations meetings on climate change, urged political leaders to adopt “strong, binding targets” for the reduction of greenhouse gases.

The Sept. 21 statement by religious leaders called upon industrialized nations “to act responsibly in mitigation efforts, by making the largest cuts in carbon emissions… (and) showing leadership in their ethical behavior.”

However, they also said all people are responsible for turning “the human-earth community into a global culture of ecological responsibility.”


The declaration was issued in preparation for a December international conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, that environmental and religious activists hope will result in a global treaty to curb carbon emissions. On Tuesday (Sept. 22), President Barack Obama urged support for a treaty, declaring: “No nation, however large or small, wealthy or poor, can escape the impact of climate change.”

Among those present at the meetings this week was Priestess Beatriz Schulthess, president of the Indigenous Peoples Ancestral Spiritual Council and a co-president of Religions for Peace, an international multi-religious peace coalition.

Schulthess, a leader and member of the Kolla Nation, a South America indigenous group, said she and other religious officials are committed to an agreement that will be “fair, ambitious and binding.”

Of particular concern for Schulthess is that any new global treaty reflect the concerns and problems of the world’s poor and indigenous groups. These already-impoverished peoples, she said, are the first victims of natural disasters caused by climate change.

“For us, the indigenous peoples, we’ve been active for centuries, always sending out messages to humanity of what is to come. But up until now, no one wanted to listen.”

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