Press release: "Defending the earth is not a project. Defending the earth is a way of life"

World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

For immediate release: 29 January 2002

"Defending the earth is not a project. Defending the earth is a way of life"
Ecumenical Team at second Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development

An ecumenical team of more than 20 people from all continents, representing churches, regional ecumenical organizations and Indigenous Peoples' communities is attending the second Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).

The composition of the team at this week's meeting in New York, USA, "reflects the priorities of the World Council of Churches (WCC) for the World Summit itself," says Dr Martin Robra from the WCC "Justice, Peace and Creation" (JPC) team. According to Robra, the main issues are:

Southern Africa: The Summit will give churches in Southern Africa an opportunity to share their concern about sustainable livelihood for the people in the region with a wider public. The WCC is working closely with the South African Council of Churches (SACC) on this issue; the SACC will be represented in New York by Rev. Sipho Mtetwas.
Indigenous Peoples' communities: The WCC supports Indigenous Peoples' communities and their unique perspectives on sustainability. Representing Indigenous Peoples on the ecumenical team, Esther Camac Ramirez (Costa Rica), Moses Gutierrez Roja (Bolivia), and Willy Alangui (Philippines) will ensure that Indigenous concerns remain high on the ecumenical team's agenda.
Economic globalization: Building on the work of ecumenical teams at the World Summit on Social Development (Geneva 2000) and at the UN process on Financing for Development, Sr Wendy Flannery (Australia), Joy Kennedy (Canada), and staff of the UN Liaison Office of WCC member churches will continue an ecumenical critique of economic globalization.
Climate change: The WCC has participated in the many inter-governmental negotiation committee sessions on climate change held under UN auspices since 1989. Support for the Kyoto Protocol and its implementation will be a major feature of the WCC's advocacy work at the WSSD. Elias Abramides (Argentina), a member of the WCC team to the Climate Change conference, will represent that concern in New York.
"The WCC believes that the failure to implement many of the promises made at the 1992 UN conference on the Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (UNCED) points to a lack of political will to fulfil the Rio pact between the environmental agenda and the need for social development. But it also reveals the inherent tension between the stated goals and the means chosen to reach them. There can be no doubt: destructive processes have continued and are continuing since UNCED, " Robra explains.

According to Robra, previous WCC delegations to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development sessions stated clearly that sustainability cannot be achieved by current economic approaches premised on unlimited economic growth and a continuous and unregulated expansion of production and consumption for the world's rich. "Those who work for life with dignity in just and sustainable communities must take this into consideration. Often, resisting the exploitation and destruction caused by a wrong understanding of development is not so much a choice as an imperative for people's survival," he explains.

"More and more, people are deprived of the resources essential for their survival. Their living conditions are deteriorating. Those who are already impoverished and marginalized suffer most. Without access to money and the market economy, their lives depend on what support the community can give and what nature has to offer. A shift in perspective and of the economic paradigm is required. Defending the earth is not a project. Defending the earth is a way of life," Robra concludes.

For further information, please contact the WCC International Affairs Liaison Office, tel.: (+1) 212 867 5890

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.