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IN THIS ISSUE

1) KAIROS G20 Climate Justice Tour: Not Business as Usual!
2) Canadian Council of Churches G8 Action
3) Climate Justice: Perspectives from the Global South
4) Robin Hood Alive and Well
5) KAIROS Urgent Action: Grave concern with military order threatening thousands of Palestinians with deportation or imprisonment


FEATURE RESOURCE
Creating a Climate for Justice

FEATURE PARTNER
Francois Pihaatae,

Ecumenical Animator on Climate Change for the Pacific Conference of Churches, Tahiti

IN BRIEF
World Week for Peace in Palestine-Israel

NEW MEDIA
4 minute intro to the Social Media revolution

REFLECTION
William Ellery Channing




CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE G20:
NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL: KAIROS
NORTH-SOUTH TOWN HALL MEETINGS
JUNE 14-17, 2010

tour map

How is climate change affecting life in the Global South and Canada's Arctic?
What is our role in it?
What can we do about it?

From June 14 to 17, KAIROS will bring 4 Southern and Indigenous partners to six cities (Victoria, Yellowknife, Regina, St. John's, Halifax, Fredericton) to share with Canadians the real impacts of climate change on their daily lives and to discuss what a just solution to the climate crisis looks like. This "North-South Town Hall" will be an opportunity for substantive dialogue about real solutions.

Partners for the tour will be:

* Francois Pihaatae from Tahiti, the Ecumenical Animator on Climate Change for the Pacific Conference of Churches.

* Fred Sangris of the Akaitcho Dene, whose research focuses on the impacts of climate change on wildlife, especially caribou.

* Isaiah Kipyegon Toroitich, Program Officer for Policy and Advocacy (Climate and Economic Justice) at Norwegian Church Aid in Kenya.

* Naty Atz Sunc, General Coordinator of CEIBA, the Association for Community Development and Promotion in Guatemala.

The tour is co-sponsored by the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition and the Council of Canadians.

For more information:

VISIT THE TOUR PAGE HERE


email g20@kairoscanada.org,

or contact Caroline Foster
Partners and Networks Associate
(416)463-5312 x 221
toll-free 1-877-403-8933.


--------------------

G8 Action Call from the Canadian Council of Churches and KAIROS

The Canadian Council of Churches is hosting the Interfaith Summit of World Religious Leaders in Winnipeg: read all about it here, or visit the website at www.faithchallengeG8.com

The Canadian Interfaith planning committee is asking Canadians to “urge our government to put the needs of the majority of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable first.”

Sign the petition at www.faithchallengeG8.com if:

* you want G8 governments to close the gap between rich and poor

* you want G8 governments to prioritize environmental sustainability

* you want G8 governments to end militarism and cycles of violent conflict

* you want G8 governments to put the Millennium Development Goals back on track

KAIROS supporters are joining in this work by inviting MPs to public events as part of the KAIROS G20 Climate Justice Tour.



CLIMATE JUSTICE:
PERSPECTIVES FROM THE GLOBAL SOUTH

cochabamba

From April 19 to 22 close to 35,000 people – Indigenous peoples, NGOs, political leaders, and citizens from every continent – met in Cochabamba, Bolivia to come up with real solutions to climate change. The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, called the conference in response to the failure of the December 2009 United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen. The Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba was a democratic space in contrast to the undemocratic process that produced the weak and inadequate Copenhagen Accord, which was negotiated behind closed doors by only a handful of countries.

The Cochabamba conference was an important moment in the struggle for climate justice. KAIROS has created a new section on our website for highlighting the views of our partners in the Global South, Indigenous peoples, fishers, farmers, peasants and civil society organizations that support their cause. We have launched the web section by posting all the documents from the Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cocabamba.

Visit the site now, and return regularly for further updates >>

----------------

For more information contact Dorothy McDougall,
Ecological Justice Program Coordinator
dmcdougall@kairoscanada.org
(416) 463-5312 x 222
toll free 1-877-403-8933





ROBIN HOOD ALIVE & WELL

robin hood Despite what you may have read in the news, Robin Hood is alive and well and not hiding in Sherwood Forest. He was last seen in Berlin and is making the rounds of all G20 countries. While Prime Minister Harper and Finance Minister Flaherty oppose any proposal for a levy on banks, in most G20 countries, the Robin Hood Tax on financial transactions is still under active consideration as a viable alternative. This tiny global tax on financial trades could raise up to $650 billion a year to fund global public goods such as fighting poverty and climate change. The fact that Canadian banks emerged relatively unscathed from the financial crisis does not absolve us from our global responsibilities.

Click here for more information on the Robin Hood Tax.

While you’re there, please sign on to our Robin Hood tax action. If you’ve already done so, why not follow up with a more personal letter to the Prime Minister Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, advising them to support the Robin Hood tax, and letting them know that:

* The fact that Canadian banks emerged relatively unscathed from the financial crisis does not absolve Canada from our global responsibilities.

* The Millennium Development Goals (including maternal and child health) will not be achieved and funding for climate change adaptation will be inadequate without another source of revenue.

* The Robin Hood Tax would also help curb speculation, one of the causes of turbulence on global financial markets.

Send your letters (no postage required) to:

The Rt. Hon Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Harper.S@parl.gc.ca

The Hon. Jim Flaherty
Minister of Finance
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Flaherty.J@parl.gc.ca

Please cc your letters to

Sara Stratton,
Education and Campaigns Coordinator:
sstratton@kairoscanada.org
or
310 Dupont St,
Suite 200
Toronto, M5R 1V9.




KAIROS URGENT ACTION:
Grave concern with military order threatening thousands of Palestinians with deportation or imprisonment

The Israeli military has issued two orders that categorize thousands of Palestinians living in the West Bank as "infiltrators" subject to deportation or imprisonment. As we approach the World Council of Churches’ World Week for Peace in Palestine-Israel, please consider supporting both Palestinians who live under occupation and Israelis who are working for a just peace. Please write to Canadian and Israeli officials asking for an immediate reversal of these military orders. We thank all who have already taken the time to respond; your actions make a difference for our partners in the region and for hundreds of communities.

_____________________________

For more information please contact
John Lewis,
Human Rights Program Coordinator
jlewis@kairoscanada.org
(416) 463-5312 x 224
toll free 1-877-403-8933

or

Julie Graham,
Education Coordinator, Dignity and Rights
jgraham@kairoscanada.org
(416) 463-5312 x 233
toll free 1-877-403-8933




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donate to KAIROS
print/pdf


FEATURE RESOURCE


Creating a Climate for Justice

KAIROS' 20 page resource, Creating a Climate for Justice, is the Education and Action Guide for Year 3 of the Re-Energize Campaign.

To order contact:
Caroline Foster:
416.463.5312 x221
1.877.403.8933 x221
cfoster@kairoscanada.org




FEATURE PARTNER

Francois Pihaatae
(Tahiti)

Ecumenical Animator on Climate Change,
Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC)

Francois Pihate

Francois Pihaatae is PCC's Ecumenical Animator for Environment & Climate Change and Good Governance, and has represented the Maohi Protestant Church in the Commission on the World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches (WCC) for five years.

Francois has a special interest in the impacts of globalization on the life and culture of the people in the Pacific.  "Globalization came like a wave, and we were not well prepared for that." He hopes to encourage people to face today's challenges and to strengthen their spirituality.

Find the Pacific Conference of Churches
(Hint - near Australia!)

kairos google map
View map full size






IN BRIEF

World Week for Peace in Palestine-Israel
(May 29 - June 4)


KAIROS joins the World Council of Churches in calling on church communities worldwide to:

+ PRAY for peace in Palestine and Israel

+ EDUCATE on the impact of the Occupation on Palestinians and Israelis

+ ADVOCATE and ACT for just and peaceful solutions.

For more information, see our recent news story.

Observe the World Week of Peace in your church.
You can download the KAIROS bulletin insert here (PDF) >>








NEW MEDIA

A four minute intro to the Social Media revolution, with a great soundtrack by Fatboy Slim.

social media revolution

Click on the image
to view the video.

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To live content with small means;
to seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion,
to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich,
to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly,
to listen to stars, and birds, babes and sages, with open heart,
to bear all cheerfully,
do all bravely,
await occasions,
hurry never--
in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious,
grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.

William Ellery Channing,
from Earth Prayers From Around the World

morrisseau - mother earth

'Mother Earth' by Norval Morrisseau





 

KAIROS Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
310 Dupont St. Suite 200, Toronto, ON, Canada M5R 1V9
Tel: 416-463-5312 | Toll-free: 1-877-403-8933| Fax: 416-463-5569