The Liberia Council of Churches in collaboration with the All African Council of Churches has begun a three-day regional consultative conference for religious leaders from East and West African countries on climate change.
Speaking Tuesday, August 6, 2024 at the opening ceremony of the conference in Careysburg, Montserrado County, the Vice President of the All African Council of Churches, Bishop Teyi Lawson-Kpavuvu, said the issue of climatic change is no longer a subject to be managed by others, rather it should claim the attention of religious leaders.
“It has become a constant concern in our lives and it affects us in many ways. Climate change is present in our lives and there is a need to integrate welfare of the earth in our lives because what affects the earth also affects us,” he stated.
According to him, each one needs to understand that climate change and the environment are the equation of social justice as climatic crises are also issues of social justice. Bishop Lawson-Kpavuvu said the crisis imposed by climatic change is a challenge that must be addressed as religious leaders in collaboration with other stakeholders.
“I am saying that climatic change is a challenge because it is an issue we must take as religious leaders and people of faith, as this conference is a way of looking at the problems and finding solutions,” the bishop said.
The Chairman of the African Faith Network on Climate Justice, Rev. Dr. Bliss Agbeko, said the matter of the welfare of the earth, which is about survival, is a matter of life and death. “Over the years, we have observed that the destruction of the earth is caused by human beings because we human beings are contributing negatively to the earth,” Dr. Agbeko said.
He said God created the earth and placed it in the hands of human beings to take care and to preserve it for succeeding generations. Earlier in remarks, the Secretary General of the Liberia Council of Churches Reverend Christopher Toe described the gathering of faith leaders to discuss issues affecting the earth as special and historic.
Reverend Toe cautioned religious leaders to buttress government’s efforts in combating the challenges imposed by climatic change.
During the conference, participants will discuss the Islamic Perspective of Climatic Change, Christian Perspective of Climatic Change, the Theological Reflections on Climatic Change, and Interreligious Engagements Critical for Climatic Mitigation, Unpacking the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and panel discussion leveraging faith actors’ moral authority to advocate for climate justice by stakeholders
The consultative conference is under the theme: “The Welfare of the Earth is Our Welfare,” and brings together over 50 representatives from civil society organizations, environmentalists, and Muslim and Christian religions from East and West African countries. The Bishop of the United Methodist Church, Reverenced Samuel Quire, is expected to deliver the keynote speech marking the end of the conference.
