From September
5-7th over 2000 people from some 80 nations gathered at the United
Nations Headquarters in New York City, including a delegation of five
of your CND sisters. We listened to and dialogued with experts from
the scientific community, ecological advocates and, perhaps most
importantly, representatives from people and regions of the world most
severely affected by Climate Change. The following images and
reflections are an attempt to share some experiences of these powerful
days. My thanks to Sisters: Denise Dubois, Rose Mary Sullivan, Jeanne
Bonneau, and Jaculyn Hanrahan for joining me at the conference.
Gratefully, Stacy Hanrahan,,CND
Reflections:
A common
thread among most of the talks I attended was: The poorest nations of
the world generate the least pollution, are impacted most by
pollution, and have the fewest resources to protect themselves from
the negative effects of pollution. I saw such a connection between
this terrible truth and our stand on Debt Cancellation. I also learned
some new vocabulary: Water Security, Food Security, Anthropogenic
Climate Change. Personally, the term which appalled me most was geo
engineering. It refers to weather modification programs which alter
the weather in an area by spreading chemicals in the atmosphere. There
are 50 such programs in the United States run either by governments or
Transnational Corporations. There is no oversight. It seems to me the
height of ignorance and calls me to deepen my commitment to “protect
our planet!” The opportunity to attend the UN conference was both a
gift and a preparation for my new ministry as Director of Peace and
Justice for Blessed Sacrament Province.
Rose Mary Sullivan CND
During the UN
Conference on Climate Change, the presentations by some whose people
are the most affected by the climate change reinforced for me the
urgent need for action now to change this phenomenon. The debate
around this issue has been most often centered on the scientific and
economic realities. However, it would seem that the global community
is beginning to realize that this is also an ethical and moral issue.
We cannot wait to act. People are already suffering from the effects
of climate change: forced migration, a rise in infectious diseases,
loss of livelihood and homelands, starvation, death, etc. No one is
exempt from doing her or his part to make some changes in life style
so that others may live. We must bring public pressure on government
and world leaders to work together “to maximize efforts of mitigation
and adaptation [to climate change] so that suffering can be
minimized.”
Jeanne Bonneau, CND
UN
Conference on Climate Change
It is an
undeniable, we are confronted with global warming, a matter that is of
critical importance to the future of our planet and of humanity. It is
up to us to ensure that climate change does not lead to tragedies, if
not to a crisis of development and the disruption of the harmonious
balance between human beings and nature. We are being given a great
challenge! The earth’s survival concerns us all, not only specialists
and ecological groups. Will we know how to change our way of living
substantially?
Sister Denise Dubois, CND
Last
Reflection for Web page Climate Change
The panel of
presenters from among the Indigenous Peoples Commission manifested the
greatest energy and most engaging wisdom for me at this NGO/DPI
Climate Change Conference. Their stories and testimony of the
current state of their Liquid Continent, the Pacific, truly
represented their role as the gate keepers of the sustainable
practices in our global village. These Pacific Islanders echoed very
much the same truths found in the witness of Native peoples in the
Americas. Their words resonated with the two Appalachian Pastorals:
This Land is Home to Me (1975) and At Home in the Web of Life (1995),
newly available in a 2007 combined edition. The Indigenous people
announce to us what the earth is saying to us daily, eternally: The
earth isn’t ours. We are the earth’s.
Jaculyn Hanrahan, CND |
