Pope Francis: Throwing plastic in the sea is ‘criminal’ and ‘kills the Earth’: During his latest interview on Feb. 6, the pope went on to recall a story of fishermen he met who told him how much plastic they had found in Italy’s Adriatic Sea. The pope encountered them on a second occasion, where the fishermen reported that the amount of litter in the sea had doubled. Read more
Can a new wave of climate fiction inspire climate action?
Cli-fi is a term coined by Dan Bloom to describe the literary sub-genre of climate fiction. Cli-fi attempts to reach out to people in a way that traditional non-fiction and scientific reports simply can’t.
Margaret Atwood, Kim Stanley Robinson, Barbara Kingslover, Ian McEwan and Jeanette Winterson are just some of the authors who’ve penned cli-fi novels. Yet the cli-fi genre can count its published works in the hundreds, meaning there is clearly scope for a wider range of novels.
“The best cli-fi,” writes Ellen Szabo in Saving the World One Word at a Time: Writing Cli-Fi, “Seamlessly intertwines literary fabrication and science; it’s a literary collaboration between the disciplines of science and the humanities.” Cli-fi makes climate change personal by living vicariously, says Szabo. This means we need strong and realistic characters. Grounding cli-fi in the present with solutions also matters when we’re trying to inspire the world to immediate action. Read about Cli-Fi and Climate Fiction
Interfaith Youth Movement Faces the Challenge of Climate Change: The Interfaith School is a collaborative program between Institute for Inter-Faith Dialogue in Indonesia (Interfidei) and the Faculty of Theology of Sanata Dharma University, the Faculty of Theology, Duta Wacana Christian University, and the Faculty of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. The School will open with a Public Lecture on Saturday, February 12, 2022, 8:30 – 12:00 (Jakarta time). The topic of the opening will be Religion and Climate Change. Read more
An Evening with the Author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer: Gozanga University invites you to join them for a memorable evening with the award-winning author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer. Read more
Blessed are those who hunger for climate justice: In the era of climate change, the Antandroy people are suffering. “I don’t know what happened. But somebody told me the foreigners moved the clouds,” an Antandroy villager said.
The Antandroy people realize they are on the frontlines of a crisis not of their making. In fact, the cruel irony of climate change is that it impacts the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities, which are the least responsible for the problem. Read more
Ecocide – Legal Revolution or Symbolism? “No other topic in international law was covered as broadly in the news and blogosphere this year. Governments, the EU, the UN Secretary General, the Pope, and so many others are talking about it. Ecocide cannot be removed from our minds and the International community’s agenda. It is here to stay. Read more
Cooling towers, fake snow: What the Beijing Winter Olympics says about climate change: Fake snow is needed because, although it is cold, the area is dry. Evaluting Beijing’s bid, the International Olympic Committee said: “Northern China suffers from severe water stress and the Beijing-Zhangjiakou area is becoming increasingly arid.” It blamed this stress on climate change, intensive industrial and agricultural use and high domestic demand. Read more about the impact of climate change on the Winter Olympics
Fletcher Harper ’85 Is Building an Environmental Movement on Faith: ‘There’s no spiritual life that does not involve, does not start, intimately and inescapably, with the Earth’. “Nature awakens a sense of awe at the mystery of life, a sense of wonder, a sense of humility in the face of something so much bigger than we are,” says Harper. “A sense of appreciation and of gratitude. Sometimes a sense of fear – a healthy recognition that we’re not the center of the universe.” Read more
Faith, nature & the climate crisis: Fazlun Khalid, founder of UK-based Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences and the author of Signs on the Earth – Islam Modernity and the Climate Crisis, shares this thought piece on the origins of our environmental and climate crisis. Read more
Presbyterian Church USA: The climate crisis demands our bold and faithful response: The Presbyterian Church (USA) tells, We must be willing as a denomination to boldly support these endeavors from a place of faith, remembering the Gospel teaching, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:21). It’s time to address climate change comprehensively: to reduce our carbon footprint, to invest in reforestation and a green future, to affirm and uphold international conventions on cooperative efforts, to support divestment from fossil fuels. In faith, let us do all the things. Read more
Faith4Earth Dialogue: Changing the Future: Exciting news! The largest ever online Interfaith Dialogue on Religion and Ecology is starting on February 21, 2022, with 90 partners & more than 150 speakers. Choose your session or register to attend all! Read more about this event – free for your participation.
