Tēnei te mihi ki a koe a Pāpā Werahiko, te kaihautū o te waka o te Hahi Katorika,kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. Greetings to you Pope Francis leader of the Catholic Church. I write to you in light of a call from the global campaign organisation Avaaz, Letters for life on Read more
Before you head out to the shops to buy bags of shiny tinsel and plastic gold bells, consider these ideas for eco-friendly Christmas decorations you can make at home. Continue reading
The ideology of individualism has a great impact on our approach to questions of ecology and the environment the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, told the bishops attending the assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO). “This ideology whose origins can be traced back to the Age of Enlightenment,” Read more
A cardinal has said natural birth control could “offer a solution” to the impacts of climate change, particularly the lack of food in a warmer world. Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana told the BBC the Church has never been against natural family planning. During the Pope’s trip back from the Philippines, the Pontiff invited people Read more
In the greatest environmental disaster of the 21st Century (so far), Indonesia has been blotted out by smoke. And the media. I’ve often wondered how the media would respond when eco-apocalypse struck. I pictured the news programmes producing brief, sensational reports, while failing to explain why it was happening or how it might be stopped. Read more
Back in 2009, I ran a very large event in the Ha’apai Islands of Tonga. We managed to motivate over 3,000 people (from a total population of 4,500) to clean up the coastline and shipped 50 tonnes of rubbish to a location with a proper landfill to make an example of how a waste management Read more
From where I’m standing, the city-sized Baogang Steel and Rare Earth complex dominates the horizon, its endless cooling towers and chimneys reaching up into grey, washed-out sky. Between it and me, stretching into the distance, lies an artificial lake filled with a black, barely-liquid, toxic sludge. Dozens of pipes line the shore, churning out a Read more
This summer, Pope Francis plans to release an encyclical letter in which he will address environmental issues, and very likely climate change. His statement will have a profound impact on the public debate. For one, it will elevate the spiritual, moral and religious dimensions of the issue. Calling on people to protect the global climate Read more
Pope Francis has made no secret of his conviction that human-induced climate change, along with other forms of environmental degradation, represents a grave threat to humanity’s future. At times he even speaks in quasi-apocalyptic terms: “Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world!” His forthcoming “ecological encyclical” Read more
If you haven’t already, meet the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a collection of oceanic junk that has ballooned over the last four decades. No one is sure how big it is, but it’s probably enormous. A new study in Science Magazine tried to pin down some firm numbers by digging into various data: waste generation Read more