News Archives » Ecology
Indigenous Peoples in Latin America call for an end to destructive mining December 3rd, 2010
Thanks to Earthworks for this information:
Lima, Peru — On Tuesday, Nov 23, Indigenous Peoples from across Latin America released The Lima Declaration, a unified position calling for an end to large-scale surface mining by transnational companies on Indigenous Peoples’ lands. Indigenous representatives from the Andes, the Amazon, and Central America drafted the Declaration after a three-day Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Mining, Climate Change, and Well-being. EARTHWORKS, a US-based organization that works to protect communities and the environment from destructive mining impacts, attended the meeting at the invitation of an Indigenous Peoples’ coordinating group in Latin America.
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Nobel Laureates Urge End of Nuclear Weapons November 17th, 2010
The Dalai Lama and other Nobel Peace Prize laureates from the last four decades gathered last week in Hiroshima to urge the end of nuclear weapons. The Nobel laureates issued an appeal on November 14th for China, the United States, Egypt, Iran, Israel and Indonesia to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) without delay.
Read the story by IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis…
Oblates Engage in COP10 – Biological Diversity Convention in Japan November 16th, 2010
Bradley Rosario, OMI sent a brief report on collaboration between the Oblates, Spiritans and the Society of the Divine Word to engage with the COP10 held last month in Nagoya, Japan, The “Conference of the Parties” Convention on Biological Diversity takes place roughly once every two years. The common theme of COP10 was “Toward the Harmony of Humans and Nature”.
During COP10, VIVAT International and the Institute for Social Ethics of VIVAT’s affiliate Nanzan University, organized a side-event, namely a symposium on “Integrating Religious Values and Greater Stakeholder Participation into Environmental Governance”.
Read the report (download PDF)
Story of Electronics Video Now Available! November 10th, 2010
E-Waste in Indonesia
Annie Leonard, the creator of the popular Story of Stuff video series, has released a new, short film – on the electronics that we all use every day. “Planned obsolescence” – now called “shortening the replacement cycle” – takes a huge toll on the environment, one we can no longer sustain.
Industry analysts anticipate Americans spending more than $8.5 billion on consumer electronics this month alone. While this may seem good for the economy, making all these products exacts an enormous environmental and public health toll.
Mining the metals destroys the environment in communities from Congo to Indonesia – often fueling conflict along the way. Assembling the gadgets uses huge amounts of water and energy and exposes workers to a host of toxic chemicals. Then, once we decide to move to the next, newer, better model, we leave behind mountains of old electronics — what’s called e-waste. A recent UN report notes that global e-waste generation is growing by about 40 million tons a year.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Watch The Story of Electronics to find out why and how we need to adopt the mantra of “Make them Safe, Make them Last, and Take them Back.”
Mentoring Students in Social Justice Work November 1st, 2010
Fr. Daniel Renaud, omi is interested in developing a program for students to learn about social justice work by engaging with people at the grassroots or through issue advocacy. If you are an Oblate involved in social justice work, he would like to connect with you to discuss the possibility of a student coming to work with you for a period of time.
Father Renaud is Chaplain at St. Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He has recently been named chair of the Canadian Catholic Campus Ministry Association. This association, mandated by the Conference of Canadian Bishops, supports campus ministry in promoting the mission of the Catholic Church.
Fr. Daniel Renaud has been the Chaplain at Saint Paul University since 2004. His email is: drenaud@ustpaul.ca The University website is www.ustpaul.ca
Fr. Renaud explains his idea in this interview with the Oblate US JPIC Office Watch the video:
