14. september inviterer CKU til klimakonference for at sætte fokus på, hvordan religiøse aktører spiller en særlig rolle i klimakampen. I den anledning har vi bedt forskellige stemmer om deres tanker om, hvad kirke og klima har med hinanden at gøre. Anden stemme i rækken er Nega Kediro, som er er Branch Office Director i Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus Development and Social Service Commission i Wabe Batu Synod.
Why does it make sense to talk about churches and climate combined?
God created living and non-living things and entrusted humankind to care for them. God called the Church to serve the human’s physical and spiritual needs. Accordingly, the Church believes that they are called to do good work. This implies that care for the people and environment are their roles and responsibilities. Church members also respect their religious leaders more than political leaders. In order to realize its mission the Church should protect the whole of creation, our environment in order to mitigate the current alerting global environmental and climate crises so as to improve climatic condition and wellbeing of all living things not only at national level, but also at global level.
What are the churches already good at when it comes to climate globally?
Majorities of the Church believes that stewardship of resources is their call and part of their ministries. Most of the faith-based development organizations have been planning and implementing environmental protection and climate change mitigation into programs and projects to contribute to the sustainable development goals and human wellbeing as a cross cutting issue.
How could the churches improve on this agenda in your opinion?
- The Church should make climate issue one of their top priorities
- The Church should set strategies to advocate for the climate and environmental protection
- The Global political leaders, funding partners and development practitioners should link the environment issues with the church leaders as a means to influence their followers.
- A global church leaders network should be created for the sustainable environmental protection
- Awareness and capacity building interventions on holistic ministry, including care for creation and climate justice should be planned and implemented in Churches and their communities.
Why are you personally engaged in this agenda?
As a Christian, I believe that it is my call. Creation and all its resources are entrusted to us from God. We are called to restore and protect it. As development worker, I understand that the current global environmental crisis has been affecting the climatic condition and adversely affecting the well-being of living things and non-living things. Accordingly, I believe that I am not only responsible to contribute to better change, but also accountable when I fail to contribute.
