Archive for September 2020

Just transformation needed now: KAIROS responds to the 2020 Speech from the Throne

September 30, 2020

The Government of Canada addressed the pandemic – “our generation’s crossroad” – and how it plans to “build back better” in the much-anticipated Speech from the Throne on September 23. The speech touched on racism, gender and income inequality, the environmental crisis, dislocation, and the struggles facing Indigenous and global communities.   While the government addressed each issue separately, they intersect and are amplified by a pandemic that exacerbates human…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice

Climate Action Month wrap up

September 30, 2020

Today we wrap up the second annual Climate Action Month.  For the last 30 days, we have reflected, gained new understanding, amplified voices, lamented, celebrated, and taken collective action to address the climate crisis.  The content, events, and actions that KAIROS shared this month were intended…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Spirited Reflection: Poem by Albert Dumont on Orange Shirt Day

September 30, 2020

Sir John A. Macdonald by Albert Dumont © We, the Anishinabe, search the lifeless eyes  Of the many portraits proudly painted for Canada  To honour a man Canadians believe  Was an emblem for ‘decency, righteousness and vision’  “A hero” they say, “a…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights

Canada’s climate-stressed watersheds

September 29, 2020

In 2017, WWF-Canada completed a national assessment of Canada’s 25 major watersheds, which contain a total of 167 sub-watersheds. The assessment identified priority actions to ensure all waters in Canada are in good ecological condition by 2025.  The reports look at threat indicators such as…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Watersheds are lifeboats

September 28, 2020

As we experience impacts of climate change like drought, flooding, extreme weather, and more, remembering Brock Dolman’s words, “Your watershed is your lifeboat,” can be instructive.  When we place these impacts in the context of our local watersheds, we see how they impact everything from habitat, to…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Introduction to water week

September 27, 2020

This week, Climate Action Month wraps up on the theme of water. Over the next couple of days, we’ll celebrate rivers, explore how taking a watershed approach can help us build resilience to address the climate crisis, and learn about climate impacts on…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

A chance to win two great prizes: KAIROS Climate Action Month

September 27, 2020

Download the 30-Day Challenge ACTION Card and track your actions throughout September.    Share your completed Action Card or a post of you completing one of the actions, using the hashtags: #KAIROSClimateAction and #30DayKAIROSChallenge. All  tagged post s will be put in a draw for great prizes…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Putting our own house in order: faithful footprints

September 26, 2020

By Lucy Cummings, Faith & the Common Good    Across the country, churches are doing their part to address the climate crisis by getting their houses in order and reducing their own carbon emissions. The United Church of Canada is committed…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Global Day of Climate Action

September 25, 2020

Today is the Global Day of Climate Action. Following the immense response to the Global Climate Strike on September 27, 2019, Fridays For Future called for a global day of action that will see demonstrations take place across the globe….

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Spirit Bear and Children Make History Sept. 27 at 3 PM PDT

September 24, 2020

Suitable for all ages and important viewing for everyone, this event starts with a screening of the stop motion short that sees Michif animator Amanda Strong and Gitxsan child rights activist Cindy Blackstock adapt Spirit Bear’s books for the screen….

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights

Climate adaptation

September 24, 2020

Climate change adaptation refers to the actions taken to reduce the negative impacts of climate change that we are already experiencing. While actions to mitigate climate change through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are needed desperately, we cannot ignore that…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Orange Shirt Day is about changing the legacy

September 23, 2020

September 30 is Orange Shirt Day – a day to remember students who attended Indian Residential Schools in Canada. The day is inspired by Phyllis Webstad’s experience. On her first day at residential school in 1973, Phyllis was stripped of her new orange shirt, a shirt that…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights

Ecological devastation of the Niger Delta by oil extraction should be a concern to the whole world

September 23, 2020

Given the onset of nearly irreversible climate change, the irony is that many areas of the Global South where people have contributed substantially less to greenhouse gas emissions are comparatively more impacted. This inequality is linked to environmental racism and…

Post filed in: Africa, Ecological Justice

Sacrifice Zones

September 23, 2020

Given the onset of nearly irreversible climate change, the irony is that many areas of the Global South where people have contributed substantially less to greenhouse gas emissions are comparatively more impacted. This inequality is linked to environmental racism and…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

#ICantBreathe and Environmental Racism in Ecuador

September 23, 2020

The death of George Floyd in the US has once again demonstrated that racism plays a prominent role in the dominant system and that its violence and cruelty can reach unimaginable limits. The incident quickly led to a wave of…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights

Gender based impacts of resource extraction and climate change

September 22, 2020

In addition to its impacts on the climate, large-scale resource extraction disproportionately impacts women, perpetuates violence and puts at risk women who mobilize to protect the land and water from these projects. KAIROS works with partners in Canada and the…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

On International Day of Peace, KAIROS joins network in calling for Peace in South Sudan

September 21, 2020

KAIROS joins members of the Ecumenical Network South Sudan (ENSS) and partners of the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) in calling international attention to the urgent need for peace in South Sudan. The ENSS has released a statement on the International Day of Peace, September 21st which describes the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan and…

Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage

Climate-induced displacement

September 21, 2020

Global climate justice week begins with climate displacement. It is anticipated that by 2050, there will be 143 million people displaced by climate change. An estimated 37% of the global population lives in coastal communities, which are at significant risk…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Demanding climate action in the Speech from the Throne

September 20, 2020

On September 23, the federal government will deliver the Speech from the Throne. This is an essential moment for the federal government to announce its plans to scale up climate action and build resilience for Canadian communities and economies. This week, KAIROS joins hundreds of organizations and individuals sending messages to Prime…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Intro to Global Climate Justice Week

September 20, 2020

This week, Climate Action Month looks at climate justice issues on a global scale. The impacts of climate change are not borne equally or fairly. “Climate change is happening now and to all of us. No country or community is…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

The Arctic – the Inuit

September 19, 2020

Today we look to the north to share the experiences of the Inuit, who are facing climate change most acutely. At the end of July, the last intact ice shelf in Canada collapsed. Located on the northwestern coast of Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, the Milne Ice Shelf…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

KAIROS signs Unity Statement calling on UN Human Rights Council to investigate rights violations in the Philippines

September 18, 2020

 “We will bear witness, and we will keep watch.”   This is the central message of the Unity Statement for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in the Philippines, signed by KAIROS and several international church organizations and institutions.   This statement supports the recommendations of the United Nations High…

Post filed in: Asia-Pacific

Indigenous youth

September 18, 2020

There are some incredible Indigenous youth rising up and using their voices to address the climate crisis.  In 2018, Autumn Peltier, member of Wikwemikong Unceded First Nation on Manitoulin Island, stood before the UN General Assembly and told the world to “warrior up” and take a stand for the planet. Ta’Kaiya Blaney,…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Spirited Reflection: Love is the Revolution

September 17, 2020

This reflection is dedicated to the late Rev. Jim Kirkwood who modeled and lived a life of Revolutionary Love. During our weekly Wednesday morning staff meetings, my boss Rob Dalgleish often throws a fist in the air and emphatically and syllabically…

Post filed in: Spirited Reflections

Sovereign Seeds, food security & COVID 19

September 17, 2020

Across the world, Indigenous communities are steadily moving towards food sovereignty, in harmony with the reclamation and healing of seed rematriation. Today, we learn about this movement through the work of Sovereign Seeds, an Indigenous-led network dedicated to supporting Indigenous seed sovereignty and ancestral food relationships. …

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

KAIROS condemns surge in violence and massacres in Colombia

September 16, 2020

KAIROS joins several civil society organizations in Canada including human rights, labour, and church groups in supporting the Committee for Human Rights in Latin America’s (CDHAL) solidarity statement published earlier this week condemning the surge in violence and the massacres that have swept both urban and rural regions of Colombia in recent weeks.   The intensification of violence in…

Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights

Environmental racism

September 16, 2020

Environmental racism is the term for policies, practices, institutions, decisions, and laws that discriminate against communities where the majority of residents are Black, Indigenous, and people of colour by harming the air, land, water, biodiversity — or people’s ability to…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, September 14- 21.

September 15, 2020

Join us in educating, advocating, strengthening solidarity and praying for an end to the occupation and a just peace in Palestine and Israel. Through our joint work, we are also correcting injustice suffered, affirming the rights of the marginalized and…

Post filed in: Middle East