The Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific has published an environmental report that presents a brief overview of key environmental concerns, advocacy initiatives, events, policies and discoveries in Asia Pacific. Titled “Environment Outlook 2013”, the report is based on the responses of Jesuits and collaborators in reconciling with creation, as seen in visits and levels of engagement with Jesuit provinces, institutes and schools in this part of the world in the last months.
Fr Pedro Walpole SJ, JCAP Coordinator for Reconciliation with Creation, said the report was produced to encourage all to critique it with regard to its coverage of respective areas, keep reporting levels of initiatives, and be able to highlight areas in different provinces in which there is a particular call to respond.
Reconciliation with Creation has been a priority engagement for the Conference for the last three years. Fr Walpole said that during this time, there has been significant growth in ecological responses particularly from scholastics who increasingly pay attention to waste management, energy and water audit and other resources. Schools are also factoring Reconciliation with Creation in their management, and keeping awareness up and information flowing to all staff, faculty and students. In the area of youth education, there are a number of “sustainable courses” emerging.
Fr Walpole said that there are also efforts in the area of advocacy, which have been developed with the Global Ignatian Advocacy Network (GIAN). These efforts are centred on disaster risk reduction and management, and mining, two topics that are developing strategically for our region.