Catholic groups shun fossil fuels for climate action

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Some 46 faith-based institutes, including Catholic, Protestant and Jewish groups, have pledged to avoid fossil fuel investments and pledged not to associate with entities that invest in fossil fuels.

The coalition includes Caritas Asia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, the Commission of the Episcopal Conference of the European Union, Foundations and donors interested in Catholic activities in the United States and the American Jewish World Service.

This is the largest joint divestment announcement among faith leaders, according to the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM), a leading Catholic action group promoting climate justice through transformative actions since its inception in the United States. Philippines in 2015. The movement draws inspiration from Pope Francis’ Groundbreaking Encyclical on the Environment Laudato si’.

The latest fossil fuel divestment pledge is the first to come after the release of the Vatican’s first-ever operational guidelines on the environment.

These guidelines, issued jointly by all Vatican dicasteries, encourage Catholics to avoid investing in companies that “harm human or social ecology (for example, through abortion or the arms trade), or to environmental ecology (for example, through the use of fossil fuels),” said Cheryl Dugan, GCCM program manager, in the press release.

So far, some 400 faith groups have joined together to switch to greener energy, she noted.

Father Augusto Zampini-Davies, assistant secretary of the Vatican’s socio-environmental ministry, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, appreciated the organizations’ commitment to divest from fossil fuels.

“We celebrate that Catholic institutions around the world are implementing the Vatican guidelines on fossil fuel divestment. Today’s announcement demonstrates that believers have both the wisdom and the courage to act,” said Father Augusto, an Argentinian.

“The future of our economy is in clean energy, and the Catholic commitment is clear. We invite governments to join us in urgent and ambitious action to protect our common home.

James Gomes, director (programmes) of Caritas Bangladesh, a member of Caritas Asia, said the announced divestment from fossil fuels is a welcome and laudable step and that more organizations can follow suit.

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“Caritas in Bangladesh is committed to both human and environmental ecology and from this perspective, we believe that such climate action is a big step forward. We have implemented various projects and activities as proposed by Pope Francis in Laudato si’ across the country,” Gomes told UCA News.

Although Caritas is not directly linked to fossil fuel divestment, the agency has been at the forefront of various environmental actions such as building green walls by planting trees as well as clean energy such as energy solar for daily consumption.

“Two of the eight Caritas regions, Chittagong and Dinajpur, have solar energy projects. We were the first to introduce street lighting and household electricity from solar panels in Rohingya refugee camps, followed by others. We hope to prioritize and implement such projects in other places as well,” Gomes said.

According to climatologists, the burning of fossil fuels is a major cause of global warming that leads to melting polar icebergs and rising sea levels.

Despite increased awareness of the harmful impact of fossil fuels and a shift towards green and renewable energy, fossil fuels will account for half of total global energy demand by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency .

Climatologists warn that climate change leading to sea level rise will wipe out large areas and affect 300 million people worldwide, including 42 million people in low-lying countries like Bangladesh, by 2050.

The US group Climate Central predicts that the number of people affected by climate change will rise to 630 million by the next century. At the current rate, sea level could rise by 60 centimeters to 2.1 meters during this century.

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