Small-scale farming and indigenous practices in the uplands of Asia are not very sustainable and a great majority of the youth wants out. Given the marginalisation and oppression that still rule in many of these environments with exploitation by corporate “sustainable” logging and mining firms, armed groups, corporate agricultural practices, infrastructure and seeping globalisation, farming life is not a question of success but of survival.
The ecological crisis, the globalised call for environmental stewardship promulgated in Laudato si’ and the 2015 UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris have brought the concept of “sustainability of life” to the fore. These have raised the need for critical reflection on sustainability in the light of the innovative praxis of local communities, particularly the indigenous peoples.
The environmental problems we face today are complex and the Church’s concern is shared by other faiths. In Islam, for example, we can find some principles of environmental ethics that deal with nature and creation. These principles are: tawhîd (God’s unity), âyat (sign of God’s presence), mîzân (balance), khalifat (God’s vicegerent) and amânat (trust).
Asia Pacific has been dubbed the world’s engine of growth, but at what and whose cost?
China has been hailed by the world as an economic success story. Three decades of uninterrupted growth has lifted more than 600 million people out of poverty, and although there are still roughly 150 million people living in poverty in the country, China’s economic success is the envy of the developing world.
The Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific is inviting Jesuits, collaborators and friends to participate in a conference on sustainability. Entitled A Call to Dialogue on the Sustainability of Life in the ASEAN Context, the meeting will be held in Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta from August 8 to 10, 2016.
Sustainability is a hot word today among scientists, economists, politicians, religious leaders, and others especially concerned with humanitarian values. It has been linked to economics, ecology, social welfare, social justice, gender equality, financial security, conserving energy, eradicating poverty, and, of course, finding meaning in life. And it is a topic of concern for the Jesuits engaged in dialogue with Buddhists.
This August will see an estimated 100 Jesuits, collaborators and friends converging in Indonesia to reflect, discuss and explore actions on sustainability of life in the ASEAN context. The meeting will be the largest collaboration across sectors in the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific in recent years.
Dear friends,
At last week’s assembly of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific the major superiors reflected on Laudato si’ and issued a declaration that seeks to animate a lively response in Asia Pacific. We urge all Jesuits in our Conference, our colleagues, and all those we seek to serve, to make a thoughtful and generous response to Pope Francis’ plea to reconcile with creation, which is one of our apostolic priorities.
The Jesuits in the Asia Pacific region have initiated a carbon offset scheme to reduce the impact of air travel on the environment. Flights for Forests was presented and approved at the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) assembly in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, in July 2011.
“Air travel is a major contributor to global warming, and since our collaboration in the Jesuit mission requires many of us to fly frequently, we seek to mitigate the damage our trips cause to the environment,” said Fr Mark Raper SJ, JCAP President.