Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - ““We pray that the world’s environment ministers meeting from November 6-17 in Nairobi, Kenya - a country currently in the grip of climate change - will find the courage to act with the urgency now required,” said a statement issued jointly by the international Catholic agency Caritas and the Protestant umbrella body All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC). The statement was addressed to participants at the 12th UN Conference on Climate Change which opened yesterday and runs until November 17 in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi. “
“We encourage Christians during this period to actively participate in initiatives such as: praying together, sharing information on climate and its effects with members of your congregation, joining other organizations and initiatives that are creatively engaging in environmental protection and conservation and speaking out against carbon emission and supporting national and international policies that would curb emissions," the statement further said.
Africa, which produces only a modest amount of carbon dioxide, is on average O.5 degrees centigrade warmer than it was a century ago, “but temperatures have arisen much higher in some areas, such as a part of Kenya which has become 3.5 degrees centigrade hotter in the past 20 years.”
The churches said climate change was increasing poverty and threatening livelihoods. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the melting and receding of the ice on Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro has negatively affected rain patterns in East Africa.
“Snow, which used to be a permanent feature on these mountains, is no longer there, the church said, adding that studies had indicated that should the earth’s average temperature rise by more than two degrees, there could be potentially large numbers of extinctions and major increases in hunger and water shortage. “Our Christian values are the core of our call for urgent, concerted action on climate change points out the church body,” the statement said. “Not only do we believe that in the beginning we are given stewardship of the earth by God, but we believe that good news for the world’s poor people is rooted in justice”.
According to a report Chartography of Vulnerablility and Poverity in Africa by the International Institute of Research on Cattle, the areas most vulnerable to climate change in the next 50 years are the poorest parts of Africa: Burundi e Rwanda, most of Ethiopia, Eritrea, south-west Niger and southern Chad. The report says all Africa is vulnerable to changes caused by rising temperatures. Already cases of malaria are reported in areas where the disease was not present, such as some mountainous areas of Kenya where since 1997 the number of people admitted to hospital for malaria has increased by 250%.
The delegates meeting in Kenya under the auspices of the United Nations Organisation are reflecting on the future of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to limit emissions responsible for global warming which will expire in 2012. The 6,000 delegates are discussing recent scientific discoveries and possible plans to curb polluting emissions. Another question is how to reduce to a minimum the environmental impact of newly industrialised countries . (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 8/11/2006 righe 48 parole 585)
