Is a successful dialogue between churches and politicians possible and what should it be based on? Can the European Green Deal inspire similar actions in other regions? What Christian values can contribute to the universal aspiration for a sustainable future?
These questions were addressed at the workshop “Advocacy and political aspects of churches’ engagement with climate change”, held this September 6 in the framework of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) 11th assembly in Karlsruhe.
Kess Niewerth, moderator of the Conference of European Churches working group on dialogue with European institutions said politicians in Europe are open and ready to listen the voices of the churches.
Niewerth, the Vice President of the Netherlands Council of Churches, referred to the European Green Deal as a positive development. In 2021, the European Union made climate neutrality legally binding in the European Union. The Green Deal is the roadmap for the EU to become climate-neutral by 2050.
Yet the “leaving no one behind in the transition to climate neutrality” demands that most vulnerable members of society, as well as regions and territories that are in the need of special consideration, be involved in decision-making, he said.
On the other hand, the Green Deal is based upon the idea of growth, whereas the Christian perspective points at a different path: an economy which provides sufficiently for all and negates the idea of greed, he underscored.
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