EUROPE/SPAIN - Environment Day: educating young people to fight against climate change and to defend the common home

Wednesday, 5 June 2019 environment   laudato sì   pope francis   youth  

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Madrid (Agenzia Fides) - Today, June 5, we celebrate Environment Day, an anniversary shared by an increasing number of ecclesial institutions and bodies, also thanks to the impulse given by Pope Francis with the encyclical "Laudato Sì" . For this year 2019, the UN has proposed to address the issue of reflection on air pollution, as 7 million people die each year due to this type of pollution.
In fact, pollution can create imbalances in people's physical and mental health, affecting daily activities or social interactions. For this reason, Pope Francis underlines in his second encyclical, published four years ago, that "exposure to air pollutants produces a wide spectrum of health effects, especially among the poorest, causing millions of premature deaths".
Among the initiatives reported to Fides that go in the perspective of the "Laudato sì", there is the one called Don Bosco Green Alliance, promoted by the different Salesian realities. For this Day they have proposed the challenge #PonteEnVerde (#Become Green, too), with which they invite to paint the world of the internet with an ecological color. The aim is to offer a better future for young people, for an environmental, economic and social ecology; an ecology of everyday life, an ecology that is a guide to the common good and justice among generations.
"Salesian realities try to educate young people to take a leading role in the fight against climate change and the defense of our common home", reads the note sent to Fides. Salesian religious Koldo Gutiérrez, director of the Salesian National Center for the youth pastoral care of Spain, recalls that "in this context we support the efforts of young people to build a better future and create a safe and supportive environment".
"Don Bosco Green Alliance" is a growing network, with new members who join constantly. In addition to working in the key priority areas of the alliance, members are also involved in several other environmental initiatives, based on local needs and challenges. Currently "Don Bosco Green Alliance" is present in 37 countries and has 123 members. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 05/06/2019)


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