Archive for 2020
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
Indigenous women on the frontlines
September 15, 2020
Today Climate Action Month recognizes the crucial role that Indigenous women land and water defenders play for the environment and all who depend on it. Women land defenders speak up to defend the air, land and water and do so to protect their rights, the wellbeing of…
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
UN Declaration and climate justice
September 14, 2020
Yesterday (September 13) marked the anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) in 2007. The UN Declaration protects collective rights that may not be addressed in other…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
National implementation of UNDRIP is more urgent than ever
September 13, 2020
Anniversary of the Global Adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the UN General Assembly 13 years ago, on September 13th 2007, as a global minimum standard to address widespread, severe, and systemic violations of the…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Introduction to Indigenous rights week
September 13, 2020
This week, Climate Action Month explores a critical pillar of climate justice: Indigenous rights. Honouring Indigenous rights means upholding Indigenous peoples’ title and sovereignty and the rights to self-determination and free, prior, and informed consent. We’ll explore how these rights…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
How do we get to net-zero?
September 12, 2020
In December 2019, the federal government made a commitment to develop a plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Net zero is achieved when we can significantly reduce our carbon emissions and any remaining emissions are completely offset by actions…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Indigenous curriculum key to Reconciliation in Canada
September 11, 2020
In 2018, KAIROS was encouraged by progress made by provincial and territorial governments in implementing the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada’s Call to Action 62.i (Education for Reconciliation). That year, Alberta received a grade of Excellent in “Public Commitment” and Good for “Implementation” from KAIROS’ Education for Reconciliation (E4R) Report Card. However, like others in…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Resource extraction and renewable energy
September 11, 2020
We often use the terms “clean energy” and “renewable energy” interchangeably, but renewable energy isn’t always clean. In the race to scale up renewable energy technology, the demand of minerals like lithium, cobalt, copper, and nickel is also on the…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
The Climate Witness Project
September 10, 2020
Have you ever asked, “What could I or my congregation possibly do about climate change?” If so, you’re not alone. The Climate Witness Project is a grassroots network of faith communities who take action on climate change with public policy…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
A Green and Just Recovery
September 9, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted every aspect of our lives. The pandemic has laid bare the interconnectedness of the global economic and ecological crises. Uncontrolled resource extraction, deforestation, infrastructure development and the exploitation of wild species have created perfect…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
LNG is not a transition fuel
September 8, 2020
In the shift away from coal-fired power and other dirty fossil fuels, gas has been promoted as the affordable transition fuel that can help bridge the gap to widespread clean energy. While gas may have fewer emissions than coal, the…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Canada’s Climate Fair Share
September 7, 2020
The Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change acknowledge the importance of equity in implementing a global response to the climate crisis. This recognizes that while addressing climate change is a shared responsibility of all countries,…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Intro to Just Transition Week
September 6, 2020
This week, Climate Action Month turns to the theme of Just Transition where we will explore what needs to happen to get the Canadian economy to net zero emissions by 2050. A net zero economy is achieved when we can…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Take a Sacred Pause
September 5, 2020
Yesterday we introduced For the Love of Creation. This work calls us to consider and act on what we, as people of faith, can do – individually, in small groups and as large faith communities – for the love of creation. We have developed a resource based on this…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Call for stronger climate action (sign e-petition)
September 5, 2020
As people of faith, called to love and care for all creation, we feel that it is important to speak into the current moment, shaped by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate emergency. That is why For the Love of…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Faith communities and climate action
September 4, 2020
The Season of Creation is a time to recognize ecumenical collaboration on care for our common home, so today we feature the work of For the Love of Creation, which is bringing together Canadian faith communities and faith-based organizations to do just that. This…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
For Our Common Home
September 3, 2020
KAIROS member Development and Peace launched the For Our Common Home campaign in 2019 in response to Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Sí. The campaign’s first theme, A Future for the Amazon, urges Canadians to act to protect the Amazon through solidarity, advocacy, and personal commitment. Showing…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
The #1 Action We Can Take for the Climate
September 2, 2020
According to climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, the number one thing we can do to address climate change is the exact thing that many of us are not doing: talking about it. “We can’t give in to despair. We have to go out and look…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
KAIROS Climate Action Month begins!
September 1, 2020
Today marks the beginning of the second annual KAIROS Climate Action Month. Last year, Climate Action Month galvanized action around the Global Climate Strike and the October federal election. This year’s Climate Action Month is marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has laid…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Resiliency and hope drive KAIROS’ Climate Action Month
September 1, 2020
2nd annual Climate Action Month to amplify just recovery call (Ottawa, ON) – Resiliency and hope are the driving messages of KAIROS Canada’s second annual Climate Action Month, beginning September 1, which will include daily content and actions posted to KAIROS’ website focused on five weekly themes: Season of Creation, just transition, Indigenous rights, global climate justice, and water. KAIROS’ Climate Action Month kicks off by amplifying…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Media Releases
Where is the support for the women defending land and water, Canada?
August 25, 2020
This op-ed by Gabriela Jiménez, KAIROS’ Latin American Partnerships Coordinator was published in Canada’s National Observer on August 23, 2020. Canadians care about the environment. Multiple polls found that the climate crisis was one of the top issues of the…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
Continued action needed to end attacks against human rights defenders in the Philippines with killing of Zara Alvarez
August 24, 2020
Zara Alvarez, a brave, well-known human rights defender who worked with a member organization of KAIROS partner Ecumenical Voice for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (EcuVoice), was fatally shot in Bacolod City on the Negros Island on August…
Post filed in: Asia-Pacific, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Table UN Declaration legislation this fall urges Indigenous rights coalition
August 17, 2020
The Coalition for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which is made up of Indigenous Nations and representative organizations, human rights groups and faith communities, including KAIROS, is urging the federal Minister of Justice to table legislation to implement the…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
KAIROS solidarity and support for the 1492 Land Back Lane Defenders
August 14, 2020
KAIROS joins others in expressing grave concern about the recent attacks against Haudenosaunee land defenders by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) on August 5, 2020. Whether in the Philippines or here on Turtle Island, we denounce violence against land defenders who are asserting inherent rights to self-determination and to free, prior and informed consent. We call on the…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
