Kairoscanada -- Climate Justice tour, blog and discussion

As the G8/G20, the world's richest nations, squabble miserably about financial re-reg and climate action (with no solutions in sight) the Canadian interfaith organization Kairos is holding a series of 'town meetings' from coast to coast, based on its 5-page discussion paper Charting a road map to a sustainable future (May 2010) that quotes Sally Bingham, Gro Brundtland, Rees and Wackernaegel (inventors of the eco footprint), Herman Daly, Marilyn Waring, Tim Jackson, Sallie McFague, and others. It asks, “Who is my neighbour?”

We are all connected – God, humans, and other-than-humans. We are all in this together. In this worldview Jesus‟ command “to love one another as I have loved you” takes on an even deeper meaning. It expands the answer to the question, “Who is my neighbour?” It calls us to consider the well being of the whole earth community as we make political and economic decisions about how we are to live in the world.

How might we move in this direction? What are the concrete changes that we need to make both in lifestyle and in government policy? How can we create a momentum for change that will take us into the future?

It ends with three queries:
1) What would a sustainable economy look like for Canada? What would be the downside? The upside?
2) What social or political barriers would need to be overcome in the transition to a sustainable economy?
3) What is your response to the Climate Justice Now Network's position that, “Instead of trying to fix a destructive system, we should be leaving fossil fuels in the ground, reasserting peoples’ and community control over resources and production, re-localizing food production, massively reducing over consumption … ”

and invites all people of faith to further online discussion and a blog.

CIDA cuts off Kairos funding, ending 35 years of Christian service

photo courtesy Globe and Mail

CIDA has cut off interchurch Kairos funding, ending 35 years of humanitarian Christian service to partners abroad: see the report in Globe and Mail 3 Dec 09
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Appeal to Quakers and people of all faiths by

Anne Mitchell, Clerk of Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Merrill Stewart, Clerk of Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers)

Dear Friends
We are asking you to engage in an urgent action to request that CIDA reconsider its decision to terminate funding for overseas human rights work undertaken by KAIROS.

KAIROS, with its members, has a thirty-five year history of CIDA support and has recently worked with CIDA to align its foreign aid work with current government priorities. This disruption of funding impacts twenty-one foreign partners and will diminish Canada's
reputation as a reliable partner in development work.

We ask you to contact your Member of Parliament*, working ecumenically if possible, to request a reversal of this decision. We ask that you use a constructive, respectful approach to elected officials and emphasise the importance of the work made possible by this funding.
* find your province's Conservative MPs here; MPs of all other parties

Please read the attachment for a full understanding of the situation. Please share this information widely through your local networks, email, Facebook, and other social media.

We ask you to act as soon as possible.

Appel oecuménique pour la justice climatique / An ecumenical call for climate justice

KAIROS/ROJeP, organisme ecuménique regroupant l'Église Catholique ainsi que plusieurs dénominations protestants, vient de publier une déclaration au gouvernement canadien.

Le Canada, le Japon et les États-Unis s’entêtent – et s’isolent – dans leur insistance pour se défaire du Protocole de Kyoto. Ils refusent que le protocole mette l’accent sur le rôle historique qu’ont joué les pays industrialisés dans la genèse de la crise du climat et rejettent l’affirmation de principe que ces pays doivent être les premiers à se fixer des cibles contraignantes de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre.

Notre action sur les changements climatique fait partie de notre campagne Repenser l’énergie - Il est temps de prendre un congé sabbatique du carbone, qui explore comment notre dépendance à l’égard de l’énergie fossile a des impacts négatifs sur l’environnement, contribue à créer des conflits armés dans le monde et à violer les droits humains, et exacerbe les inégalités économiques.

KAIROS offre aux églises des textes et vidéos sur

• Anti-pauvreté
• Droits autochtones
• Droits humains internationaux
• Écologie
• Éducation et animation
• Grandes entreprises : Questions touchant les entreprises
• Justice économique mondiale
• Partenariats
• Réfugiés et migrants

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The Canadian umbrella group KAIROS (including Anglican, Catholic, Christian Reformed, Evangelical Lutheran, Quaker and United Church recently called on the government to:

· Reassure the global community that Canada will honour its legal obligations
under the Climate Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, and will thus accept the
penalties set out in the Kyoto Protocol in the event that it fails to meet its
emissions target;
· Support the objective of keeping global average warming to less than 2oC above
pre-industrial levels, in order to prevent the most catastrophic and irreversible
impacts of climate change in line with the scientific consensus and the position
of the European Union;
· Support deeper emission reductions for industrialized countries in the post-
2012 period under the Kyoto Protocol in line with the objective of keeping
warming to below 2oC and with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, which found that reductions of at least 25% below 1990 levels
by 2020 are required from industrialized countries;
· Support a process for negotiation of differentiated commitments for developing
countries, such as sectoral targets or other policies and measures;
· Contribute to the development of an effective adaptation strategy in response
to those impacts that are now unavoidable, especially in the least developed
and most vulnerable countries.

See the full text. KAIROS has study materials and videos for church congregations on

• Aboriginal Rights
• Anti-Poverty
• Corporate Issues
• Ecology
• Education and Animation
• Global Economic Justice
• International Human Rights
• Partnerships
• Refugees and Migration