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SUSTAINABILITY

KAIROS' work in sustainability focuses
on four interconnected areas:
Climate Justice
Resource Extraction
Corporate Accountability
Global Finance

When KAIROS speaks of "sustainability," it speaks of just and equitable economic, social, and environmental systems. People enjoy dignified and meaningful livelihoods. Ecosystems are recognized as complex and essential parts of our existence and are valued for their inherent and life-giving worth.

Living sustainably means understanding that the earth is an integral part of God's Creation, and committing to live within Earth's material limits. Sustainable communities require a just and moral economy where people are empowered to participate in decisions affecting their lives, where public and private institutions are held accountable for the social and environmental consequences of their activities, and where the Earth is honoured rather than exploited or degraded.

Doing justice and living sustainably means understanding that the earth is an integral part of God's wondrous Creation and ensures that we live within the bounds of earth's material limits.

RESOURCES

KAIROS plays key role in World Council of Churches North American Hearings on Poverty Wealth and Ecology

Re-energizing the Future: Faith and Justice in a Post-Petroleum World: Developing an ecumenical response to the fossil fuel crisis

Creating a Climate for Justice: KAIROS Re-Energize Campaign Education & Action Guide

Charting a Road Map to a Sustainable Future: Making Critical Choices





SUSTAINABILITY NEWS

Fundamental Justice Issues at Stake in Gateway Pipeline Debate

January 25, 2012 By
SUS-RE-SaraFortMac-Feature

Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project, comprising two 1,170 kilometre pipelines from northern Alberta across Indigenous lands to Kitimat, BC, would carry 525,000 barrels a day of diluted bitumen from the tar sands to the west coast for export, and return 193,000 barrels of condensate (used to thin the bitumen) to Alberta each day, allowing the cycle to continue. This venture poses fundamental questions of social and ecological justice. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Feature 2, Indigenous Rights, Resource Extraction, Sustainability, The Tar Sands

Fate of Tar Sands Pipelines Crucial for Climate Justice

January 12, 2012 By
Tar Sands Factories

KAIROS' August 2011 paper outlines the key issues in the controversy over both the Gateway and Keystone pipelines.  Both violate the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent as enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Canada has signed. There should be no further approvals of tar sands projects due to their projected carbon emissions, negative impacts on land and biodiversity and on the rights of Indigenous peoples. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, Feature 1, Indigenous Rights, Resource Extraction, Sustainability, The Tar Sands Tagged With: , , , , ,

Congolese Elections—A Step Backward

December 23, 2011 By
DR Congo - Jim Davis + Heritiers de la Justice

While the African Union and neighbouring countries have accepted the results of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) recently held presidential and parliamentary elections, most national and international observers have said that the results were marred by substantial electoral irregularities and that the results lack credibility.  KAIROS human rights partner in eastern DRC, Héritiers de la Justice (www.heritiersdelajustice.org), has joined with other civil society groups in asking that the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) transparently publish the results by voting stations and compilation centres in order to reassure the Congolese people. The DRC’s Supreme … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Congo (DR), Feature 2, Global Partners, Global Partners Tagged With:

ELCIC letter to Minister Kent re. Canada’s withdrawal from Kyoto Protocol

December 15, 2011 By
logos-ELCIC

The Rev. Susan C. Johnson, National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), has written to  Minister of the Environment Peter Kent expressing her disappointment and concern over the recent decision of the government to withdraw Canada from participating in the Kyoto Protocol. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 2, Sustainability Tagged With: , ,

Kyoto Withdrawal Diminishes Canada

December 14, 2011 By
Kyoto Globe

Environment Minister Peter Kent’s announcement of Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol not only tarnishes our international reputation but also betrays the efforts of the thousands of Canadians who worked long and hard for Canada to ratify the only legal agreement obliging countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the reasons provided for Canada’s pullout in Mr. Kent’s December 12th statement  contain many distortions. Mr. Kent states that “Before this week, the Kyoto Protocol covered less than 30% of global emissions.” In reality, due to the fact that carbon dioxide emissions remain in the atmosphere for long periods of time, even hundreds of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 1, Sustainability Tagged With: , ,

Policy Briefing Paper #30: Coal and Shale Gas Obstacles to Climate Justice

December 14, 2011 By
SUS-RE-Fracking

While much attention has focused on the tar sands as the fastest growing source of Canadian greenhouse gas emissions, climate justice demands that we also curb emissions from coal and shale gas. The most recent KAIROS briefing paper examines these two carbon-intensive energy sources, the dangers they pose and movements to curtail their use. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Briefing Papers, Climate Justice, Feature 1, Resource Extraction, Sustainability

Durban COP 17: Too Little, Too Late

December 13, 2011 By
COP 17 - Durban 2011

Politicians are portraying the outcome of the Durban climate conference as a “success” because they have agreed to keep on talking in the hope of arriving at a legally binding pact by 2015 that would take effect in 2020. Climate scientists warn that if we do not act sooner than 2020, climate change is likely to become catastrophic and irreversible. Current greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction pledges have put the world on track for temperature increases of 2-5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. If global average temperatures rise by 3.5 to 5 degrees, they would increase between 7 and 8 degres in Africa, causing immense human suffering and ecological destruction. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 1 Tagged With: , , ,

Primate’s Statement: A call to action for the love of creation

December 7, 2011 By
SUS-CJ-11-12-FredHiltz

"We believe that we show our respect for God's creation by working for a climate treaty that is morally and legally binding... As people "striving to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth, we are challenged by the Archbishop of Canterbury's question, "How do we show that we love God's creation?" " - The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 2 Tagged With: , ,

Arctic Melting Sounds the Alarm for Life on Earth

December 1, 2011 By
Ice Island

Accelerated melting of Arctic ice and permafrost is among the clearest signals that climate change is rapidly approaching a point of no return. This latest KAIROS Briefing Paper “Arctic Melting Sounds the Alarm for Life on Earth” summarizes several recent scientific studies. Like canaries in a coal mine, Arctic melting is a clear warning that we must curtail greenhouse gas emissions before it is too late. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Briefing Papers, COP 17 - Durban 2011, Feature 2, Resource Extraction, Sustainability Tagged With: , ,

Ecuador’s Oil Struggle: Reflections on an Amazonian Journey

November 25, 2011 By
SUS-CJ-11-11-AmazonJourney

In July 2011, KAIROS staff Rachel Warden and Sara Stratton, together with Fort Chipewyan activist George Poitras, travelled to Ecuador to learn more about the impacts of oil exploration on the Indigenous peoples and ecosystems of Ecuador’s Amazon region. The following is Sara's reflection in words and images of her time in Ecuador. Canadian church leaders and KAIROS partners from Nigeria and Ecuador had been hosted by George and his community when the KAIROS Church Leaders’ Delegation to the Tar Sands visited Northern Alberta in May 2009. We were eager to continue building on that relationship, particularly between peoples of the global South and the global South in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Justice, Feature 1, Global Partners, Indigenous Rights, Reflections & Worship, Resource Extraction, UNDRIP Tagged With: , , ,
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