Christians around the world are encouraged to take legal action against pollutants and those who finance them.
In a new climate booklet, the World Council of Churches determines practical ways that can help believe in protecting youth and future generations from the climate crisis.
Depending on the Christian teachings on supervision and justice, strategic litigation provides as a tool to “create hope and hold the responsible parties accountable.”
Many faith leaders spoke about the climate crisis, including Pope Francis, who published A strong encyclopedia of 2015 He continued to urge Catholics to work.
But the World Council of Churches, which represents a wide range of sects worldwide, said that “it has become increasingly clear that the invitation alone is not sufficient” like Co2 The emissions continued to rise, mainly driven by “unnecessarily expansion” for fossil fuel industries.
“This position forces us to realize that there is no contradiction between the use of legal frameworks and the embodiment of Christian values,” she says. “In fact, our belief calls us to talk about the truth to power and seize every legal action available to protect our planet and its inhabitants.”
The booklet notes that climate litigation has grown significantly in recent years. These lawsuits can succeed directly in changing the behavior of companies and the state, but they also turn public discourse and enhance broader changes in politics. The increasingly targets the organizations that are funded and invest in fossil fuels, including public and commercial banks, pension funds and credit agencies.
“The targeted legal intervention that increases the costs of doing business for fossil fuel companies can have a significant impact at the system level, for example, making renewable energy technologies cheaper than fossil fuel,” says the booklet.
“The focus on financial actors provides a rare opportunity for the regular influence that can be incapable by targeting individual fossil fuels.”
There is a precedent for climate -based legal interventions. A The lawsuit filed by the residents of the Indonesian island For example, threatened to increase sea levels against the Swiss cement product, for example, supported by Swiss ecclesiastical aid (Heks/Eper).
“We hope to see a prevalence in legal procedures around the world for moral reasons,” said Frederick Seedel, the chief leading program in the World Council of Churches.
Work on future lawsuits under implementation. Susan Les Smith, an honorary professor at Williamite University in Oregon and an environmental, is an experienced judicial, with the Council to develop strategic litigation in the United States. It explores the issue of possible damage against the large greenhouse gases to receive smoke damage associated with the recent forest fires in Oregon.
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Cedel said that the companies targeted by the faith organizations faced the dangers of a dangerous reputation. But she expressed her hope that the threat of litigation will be tackled by the conscience of some people to make changes before already launch any legal footage.
Sidel said that this booklet was not intended to be political, noting that the council represents a wide range of conservative and liberal churches that cover nearly 600 million people in more than 110 countries.
But she realized that litigation came with the risk of a violent reaction. “We take these fears seriously. We leave it mainly to our electoral district to choose the most vigor and comfortable mechanisms for them in their political and social context.”
The brochure also defines a number of potential unclear measures, including interrogation of financial organizations about their investments or reporting concerns about companies to organizers or bodies such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Churches are also encouraged to maintain fossil fuel.
At the forefront, Vanessa NakatActivist Justice in the Ugandan and Christian Evangelical Climate, which is born again, said that the booklet that pushed back the concept of exploitation of resources to achieve individual gains and encouraged a “more focused approach to the environment.” “This is an invitation to the church to upgrade against injustice,” she wrote.
