Church of Sweden, editor, Uppsala Interfaith Climate Manifesto 2008.
Robra, Martin
Church of Sweden, editor, Uppsala Interfaith Climate Manifesto
2008, Uppsala, 115 pp.
Climate change is a global phenomenon that requires international
cooperation and common efforts by people of the many cultures and
religions living together on planet Earth. Any initiative that fosters
such cooperation is urgently needed. In commemorating the 1968 Uppsala
General Assembly of the WCC, the Church of Sweden did not look back at
the event, but instead concentrated on the global threat to climate that
requires common action across the dividing lines of religious identifies
and loyalties.
Recognizing that climate change requires a long-term view that goes
far beyond the short-term orientations of business and politics and
demands deep respect for the wholeness and the spiritual dimensions of
life, the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden, Anders Wejryd, invited 30
religious leaders from different religions and continents to attend an
Interfaith Summit on Climate Change. The result of the summit was an
Interfaith Climate Manifesto with dear demands for the 2009 United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The summit supported
the goal to keep future global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (compared
to pre-industrial levels) and "to distribute the burden in an
equitable way in accordance with the principles of common but
differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities." The
leaders underlined that "Greenhouse Development Rights offers one
concrete model of such burden sharing" (pp. 11-12).
The book includes the text of the manifesto and reflections that
are meant to inspire people with hope and to foster their motivation for
concrete and meaningful changes. Life is more than production and
consumption: it is not about having more, but being more (p. 67). Such
profound insights and brief reflections on the perspectives of different
faith traditions and common values make this book a helpful
"interreligious catechism" on the environmental challenge.
DOI: 10.1111/j. 1758-6623.2010.00061.x
Martin Robra is the World Council of Churches' programme
director for church relations and ecumenism in the 21st century.
