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Anglican Creation Summit precedes Earth Summit
2002-201-1
9/4/2002
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[Episcopal News Service]
Over 80 delegates joined together August 19-22 at the Good Shepherd Retreat Center, a few miles north of Johannesburg, for the Anglican Congress on the Stewardship of Creation, in which representatives from around the Anglican Communion debated the issue of sustainable development in the context of faith.
The congress was organized by the Communion's UN observer, Archdeacon Taimalelagi Fagamalama Tuatagaloa-Matalavea, who presented a statement prepared at the Congress by delegates for world leaders at the Earth Summit, held August 26-September 4.
The meeting began with an heart-stirring explanation of some of Africa's own environmental concerns. Anthony Turton, head of the African Water Issues Research Unit at the University of Pretoria, intrigued many delegates by explaining that in South Africa the government can be sued if people are damaged by the environment, and the ecosystem has its own legal rights. In many countries of Africa, environmental issues are complex, involving lifestyles and social issues. On more than one occasion delegates were told how increased wealth throughout the world was putting even greater demands on water supplies, and the expense of supplying water to golf courses being developed in desert areas were contrasted to the needs of many poor families around the world.
Denise Ackermann, visiting theology professor at the University of Stellenbosch, introduced a wide range of issues concerning the AIDS epidemic, currently responsible for cutting a deadly swath through Africa's 20 to 40 year olds. Ackermann explained that the married woman is at greatest risk, and that for her often the 'virus of denial' is the greatest enemy, for 'who wants to add stigma to an already appalling situation?'
The Rev. Eric Beresford of the Anglican Church of Canada, co-ordinator of the Anglican Environmental Network, raised the issues of patenting and genetically modified (GM) crops, questioning how putting food production in the hands of a few transnational biotechnology companies could improve distribution--possibly the greatest problem in feeding the world.
Canberra bishop George Browning apologized for Australians who produce the highest amounts of carbon dioxide in the world--37 tons per person per year--despite warnings that their country could be 40-60 percent drier as a result of climate change and has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Browning emphasized, both in his talk and later in a sermon, that environmental work was 'core Kingdom business,' every bit as much as evangelizing.
Bishop John Oliver of Hereford said his aim was to convert the congress to support the idea of 'contraction and convergence,' an interim policy framework for implementing emission reduction through emissions trading. He emphasized the need for action now, as insurers calculate that by 2065 the cost of environmental damage will exceed the world's GDP.
Rosina Wiltshire of the UN Development Program pointed out that 80 percent of all food production in Africa is undertaken by women, but development agencies tend to assume that men will do the work. She challenged the Anglican Communion to bring a new understanding to people's vision of wealth. 'I have seen a lot of progress, but I have not seen it happen fast enough,' she said. 'Still millions of children are dying; there is still a deepening gap between rich and poor. Let us come back to ethics and spirituality.'
Bishop Geoff Davies of South Africa explained how well his country knows that when people exercise 'dominion' for their own benefit without caring for others, the consequences are disastrous and justice is forsaken. 'Our mandate for 'dominion' is not just to care for fellow human beings but for all creation,' he said. 'Unrestricted capitalism panders to our base instincts of selfish acquisitiveness and greed--and that is why it is an issue that involves us as people of faith.'
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