"Let us accept our inter-generational responsibility."
"Let us accept our inter-generational responsibility
In my column last Saturday, I wrote about the black environmental issues—the climate emergency, the massive extinction of species already under way, large scale mining and big dam projects, and the destruction by China of the West Philippine Sea—that are threatening human well-being and the health of our planet and our country in particular. These problems, I said, are not just serious or catastrophic but existential. If we not address them urgently and effectively, we doom our planet, our country, and ourselves to a terrible future. But the reality that the black environmental issues pose enormous challenges does not mean we are helpless before them.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel to reverse environmental degradation. Magic bullets are not necessary to win against the black issues. What is needed are excellent science so we know what we are up against, imaginative thinkers who can provide us innovative and creative technical and policy solutions to the problems we are facing with, consensus building approaches that bring us all together to act united and collectively against the roots of the environmental crisis, strong political will so we can aim higher to truly solve the problems we are facing, and strong public and private institutions that can carry on the intergenerational work that needs to be done.
But underlying all of these must be a philosophy of integral ecology, as elaborated by Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si that can guide and make coherent all our efforts. In that encyclical, the Pope emphasized that:
“Care for nature is part of a lifestyle which includes the capacity for living together and communion . . . We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it. We have had enough of immorality and the mockery of ethics, goodness, faith and honesty. It is time to acknowledge that light-hearted superficiality has done us no good. When the foundations of social life are corroded, what ensues are battles over conflicting interests, new forms of violence and brutality, and obstacles to the growth of a genuine culture of care for the environment.”
Pope Francis then quoted Saint Therese of Lisieux who “invites us to practice the little way of love, not to miss out on a kind word, a smile or any small gesture which sows peace and friendship.” This is what integral ecology is made up of: “Simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness. In the end, a world of exacerbated consumption is at the same time a world which mistreats life in all its forms.”
The latest pastoral letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines entitled “An urgent call for ecological conversion, hope in the face of climate emergency” provides the elements of such an approach:
“The Earth is our home. We are to care for our common home. We are to act in order to protect all life forms on Earth, from ridge to reef . . .
We are connected to the Earth, just as our lives and the life of all other beings are interconnected with each other.”
The CBCP also commits to the following concrete ecological actions:
“1. Integrate the care of creation as our common home in our teaching and practice of Christian discipleship. (Psalm 8:4-9)
2. Live simply, minimize consumption and actively promote ecological awareness and action through integral waste segregation and by minimizing the use of plastic and paper, by eliminating single-use plastics, polystyrene and the like, from our homes and institutions.
3. Prevent and reduce biodiversity loss by growing indigenous plants and trees, expanding forests through rain forestation, resisting destructive mining, dirty energy, the unbridled construction of roads and dams, as well as projects that cut into forested and protected areas. Implement programs that will allow the growth and recovery of forests, ecosystems and biodiversity.
4. Promote diversified and sustainable agriculture. Avoid the genetically modified agricultural products propagated in plantations and monoculture production, which destroy biodiversity and threaten indigenous lands.
5. Participate in efforts to protect and preserve our seas, oceans and fishery resources.
6. Protect our watersheds while at the same time using fresh water wisely, promoting and establishing massive rainwater collection, and putting a stop to infrastructures that can be detrimental to the preservation of ecological balance and biodiversity.
7. Push for an immediate transition to safe, clean, and affordable energy. Ensure just and fair transition to renewable energy sources and reject false solutions; support the use of solar power in our homes and institutions (dioceses, churches, schools, seminaries); promote, advocate and invest in renewable energy (solar, hydro, wind and geothermal power); join the campaign to immediately phase out coal-fired power plants and all other plants dependent on fossil-fuel, including coal mining.
8. Do not allow the financial resources of our Catholic institutions to be invested in favor of coal-fired power plants, mining companies and other destructive extractive projects. Divestment from such investment portfolios must be encouraged.
9. Integrate Laudato Si in the curriculum and strategic plans of Catholic educational institutions including seminaries and religious formations. Popularize and integrate the understanding of climate change and its mitigation in our formation programs.
10. Organize and educate people into a well-informed and empowered citizenry using all means available including mainstream and social media platforms for the passage of into law of bills aimed at protecting our common home, such as the Rights of Nature Bill, Forest Resources Bill, Alternative Minerals Mining Bill and National Land Use Act, as well as the implementation of environmental laws, such as, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. In the initiatives to amend the 1987 Constitution, any move that poses a threat to the integrity of creation, justice and peace, should be opposed.
11. Network with international bodies to create a groundswell of worldwide pressure powerful enough to convince multinational institutions to lower emissions and to actively engage in environmental actions for the protection of our common home and on behalf of the poor who are most threatened by aggressive but irresponsible industries.
12. Respect, recognize, and support the rights of indigenous peoples in protecting their ancestral domains and promoting sustainable development.
13. Strengthen adaptation measures and disaster risk management and reduction for our vulnerable communities. Advocate the prioritization of government budget allocation for climate resilient adaptation programs.”
Transformation must be happen at all levels—global, national, local, community, corporate, family, and individual. One can see this happening for example in the issue of plastic where there is an emerging consensus that a global ban on single use pf plastic is both necessary and doable, and where parliaments and other legislative bodies, including local councils, are adopting measures in support of such a ban. But without the active support of the private sector and a commitment by families and individuals to reject the familiar the effort will not succeed.
This transformation can happen if we accept our intergenerational responsibility. Again, I quote from Pope Francis: “Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others. Since the world has been given to us, we can no longer view reality in a purely utilitarian way, in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit. Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us.”
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