Two weeks before COP26, grassroots religious communities demand an end to fossil fuels, deforestation and related finance, clean energy, and green jobs surge


We are impatient that governments, the fossil fuel industry, and financial institutions have not addressed the climate crisis despite decades of warnings and mounting climate impacts, GreenFaith Taraba Network joined diverse faith communities in a globally coordinated uprising today under the banenr of Faiths 4 Climate Justice



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Sunday event: GreenFaith Taraba Network were at UMCN Junior Seminary, Mile Six, Jalingo; UMC Nukkai Charge, Jalingo, and UMC Mayo-gwoi, Jalingo, Taraba State. They joined the global action by unfurling banners calling for:


 


·       End to new fossil fuel projects, deforestation, and related financing,


·       Universal access to clean energy


·       A massive commitment to green jobs to reduce climate pollution and end poverty for millions.


·       Climate reparations from wealthy countries to equip vulnerable nations for a better future.


 


Banners are similarly being hoisted on cathedrals, temples, mosques, and synagogues globally. UMCN Junior Seminary, Mile Six, Jalingo; UMC Nukkai Charge, Jalingo, and UMC Mayo-gwoi, Jalingo are also ringing church bells/ beating drums/listening to the Azan being called or sounding of the conch/shofar as a way of ‘sounding the alarm’ at the unfolding climate crisis. During the event, we also learned the biblical basis for caring for the environment. Dinkin Kalbeth, a GreenFaith international Fellow and Spokesperson of the group quoted Genesis 2:7 – “The Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land and blew life’s breath into his nostrils.” Adam was created out of the dust of the Earth. How could there be any more of a relationship with the Earth than to be created out of it? “For me, this calls for action”– The fellow said.


 



 MONDAY EVENT


people of faith from GreenFaith Taraba Network peacefully but noisily made their demands known, calling on people in Government to make laws that are environmentally friendly. Participants sounded the alarm by ringing bells/beating drums/sounding the conch/shofar and holding a prayer and meditation vigil demanding a swifter and determined response to the unfolding climate crisis. The group donated 50 (fifty) seedlings of trees to the UMCN Junior Seminary, Mile Six, Jalingo, Taraba State as part of their restoration effort of the environment. The Group called for effective solid waste management in Taraba State and beyond.


 


“No religious tradition says that we should destroy the planet,” said Rev. Hannatu Robison Senior Pastor at the UMC Nukkai, Jalingo. “Yet this is exactly what governments, financial institutions, and major corporations are either doing or allowing. It’s morally inexcusable.”


“We have been waiting a very long time for meaningful and just climate action,” said [Rev. K. B. Yugorobi, Chaplain, UMCN Junior Seminary. “For the love of God, our neighbors, all vulnerable communities/species, we call for immediate climate action. The longer we wait, the greater the cost in life and suffering.”


The action at UMCN Junior Seminary, Mile Six, Jalingo; UMC Nukkai Charge, Jalingo, and UMC Mayo-gwoi, Jalingo, Taraba State was part of a global series of events organized by the GreenFaith International Network, a global, multi-faith alliance of grassroots religious organizations in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Over 400 actions took place in 43 countries.






In New York City, Jewish youth activists and interfaith allies blockaded the entrance to the headquarters of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, which invests billions of dollars in oil, gas, and deforestation projects.


In the United Kingdom, host to COP26, an interfaith group marched to the Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street in London and presented demands and religious petitions, and then later projected climate demands onto the Houses of Parliament. Churches across the UK hung banners calling for their government to end new fossil fuel projects and to provide generous financial support for climate-vulnerable countries.


In Jakarta, Indonesia, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia unfurled a banner across the street from the national capital complex calling on the government to end coal production.  The adjacent Catholic cathedral and a large nearby Protestant church responded with banners calling for an end to deforestation and a surge in renewable energy development.


Religious leaders in Australia held a multi-faith prayer service outside the local office of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, unfurling a large banner that said, “Scott Morrison: Protect Creation - Bold Climate Action Before 2030.”


The worldwide action gave voice to demands developed by grassroots people of faith which included an immediate end to new fossil fuel projects, tropical deforestation, and related financing; universal access to renewable energy; policies creating green jobs, a renewable energy surge, and a just transition for impacted workers and communities; support for climate migrants; and reparations from countries and industries responsible for the lion’s share of historic greenhouse gas emissions. Over 200 high-level faith leaders and 60 religious groups representing more than 50 million members have signed onto these demands.


“Grassroots religious groups will no longer accept vague rhetoric by politicians, financial leaders, industry, or even our own faith leaders,” said Dinkin Kalbeth. “We will not stop until a decisive decision is made. The time for action is now.”


 


Media Contact: Pheelomiyan Graham Vadulle; grahamelpheena@gmail.com; +2347066895454


Spokesperson: Dinkin Kalbeth; dinkin.kalbeth@gmail.com; +2348069341376