News: Climate Justice

CPJ’s infographic on why Christians are asking for a strong pan-Canadian climate plan.

This Earth Day, and you can bet it will include all of the perennial park clean-ups, spring seedling swaps, and perhaps a renewed push for recycling at the local public school.

That’s all good, but this year Earth Day is different. It offers something more.

Climate change is the defining issue of our time. It is altering the physical environment of the Earth, devastating ecosystems, and contributing to social, economic, and political instability around the world. Still, many continue to see climate change and its impacts as someone else’s problem – whether they be elsewhere in Canada or across the…

“We are here because people we work with in the South told us climate change is affecting them. I’m not here speaking on behalf of people in the Global South, but with them.”

— Geneviève Talbot

Earth Day is on April 22. This year, it will take on special significance as world leaders will be in New York to sign the historic Paris Agreement on climate change.

As we mark a Day of Prayer for Climate Action, we share our prayer for the Earth.

From The Catalyst, Spring 2016 Last year saw climate change become a mainstream issue. International leaders gathered to negotiate the Paris Agreement at the COP21 climate negotiations. The Pope delivered his encyclical, Laudato si’: On Care for Our Common Home, and the Canadian Council of Churches released a statement, On Promoting Climate Justice and Ending Poverty…

In the lead-up to the COP21 climate negotiations last December, Citizens for Public Justice produced resources to support faithful worship, action, and reflection on climate change. CPJ also coordinated a national prayer chain. Canadians were praying for climate justice for 296 consecutive hours during the climate negotiations.

From The Catalyst, Spring 2016
by Michelle Nieviadomy

The earth provides everything we need: food, water, clothing, and shelter. For Indigenous peoples, she provides cultural and spiritual fulfillment as well. The earth is our source, not a resource.

“Growing the Middle Class” is the title of the first budget presented by Canada’s new federal government. The Liberals hope that citizens will find “sunny ways” inside these pages – and in several ways we should. But this budget also raises some important, longer-term challenges for Canadians.

Momentum for climate action is growing

“My heart shall sing of the day you bring.

Let the fires of your justice burn.

Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,

and the world is about to turn!”