Last June, Johor set up an ad hoc committee to vet applications to build data processing centres that house the IT infrastructure for storing information of large companies, crucial for developing artificial intelligence, which will further boost energy demand.

Several studies have found that such facilities are highly polluting. One in Europe found that over 20 years, data centres in the continent produced between 6,600 and 10,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide per megawatt of operating IT, equal to the annual electricity consumption of 1,700 to 2,800 European households.

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On Monday, a small group of people gathered at the church and chained themselves to one of the trees in protest of a decision to fell the trees, planted in the 1890s, to make way for a new church hub.

Group member Kim Spencer-McDonald said they were there just after 7am and arrived before the contractors.

When the contractors arrived and saw the protesters they parked down the road and shortly after 9am four police officers arrived at scene. Read more

Rafael Tornini, head of the Garden and Environment Service of the Vatican, told L'Osservatore Romano that the gardens, which cover 37 acres, will embrace "the green" vocation enunciated by Pope Francis' encyclical, Laudato Si'.

Since the project was initiated in 2017, the Vatican Gardens has reduced its use of chemical substances by 96%, according to the report in L'Osservatore Romano. Read more

A salamander that is unique to Mexico - has almost been wiped out of its freshwater habitat by pollution and over-fishing. Read more

"In some cases, entire regions and nations are under threat from the indisputable fact of rising sea levels," the statement says.

"Examples from this part of the world include the Carteret Islands, Fead Islands, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, the Mortlock Islands, Nukumanu Islands, the Tokelau Islands, and Tuvalu."

Last week fourteen Pacific Island nations met in Jaipur, in India to discuss rising sea levels.

Their message was clear - world leaders meeting in Paris in December must deliver on expectations of a historic deal to combat global warming.

The prime minister of Tuvalu, Enele Sopoaga, says his country is having to consider buying land in New Zealand and Australia to grow food and prepare the population to migrate.

In their statement the Bishops say relocation is fraught with difficulty.

"While offers of relocation are generous in themselves, uplifting a people from one place and planting them in another is a 'solution' that is fraught with difficulty and at times even insensitivity, to cultural identity and traditions."

The Bishops' Executive Committee has been meeting in Noumea, New Caledonia.

It is made up of the representatives of the Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Australia, CEPAC (the Pacific Island nations), New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Their statement has been prepared for the Conference of Peoples to be held in Paris in December.

Here is the full text of the Bishops' statement

• In English
• En Francais

Source

• Supplied
• radionz.co.nz
• abc.net.au
• Image: brookings.edu

This strategy started about five years ago with the largest Methodist seminary in Fiji.

Theology colleagues there have begun to integrate resource management into their curriculum.

Priests and Pastors can play an important role in preserving the fish stock in Fiji says Fijian marine scientist Akuila Cakacaka.

They can preach the idea that God has made the human race stewards of creation to nurture and care for it.

Or they can encourage the people to believe that God will always provide and creation exists to serve human needs.

Fijians belong to one of the 410 demarcated and nationally recognized areas of the reef where they have the rights to fish.

These fishing grounds are known as qoliqoli, and within each are often small, protected areas called tabus, which villagers can close for a short period of time.

Historically they served a symbolic purpose, but today, tabus are one strategy to help protect areas of the reef and maintain viable fisheries, in the hopes that communities can balance short-term with long-term needs.

If a pastor blesses a marine protected areas or tabu, a god-fearing society will likely respect its boundaries.

But fundraisers for the church and the need for quick cash can often lead to opening a marine protected area to fishing, making it harder to close again.

Cakacaka says the church is rarely included when NGOs or other development groups come to the village.

Religious leaders may be asked to bless the project, or pray for the work to be done.

But the groups don't directly involve the church in asking their perspective on conservation.

Akuila says if people think God will provide—even as the fish vanish— Fijians may continue fishing the way they are now.

Current fishing practices in Fiji are not only occasionally destructive, but also unsustainable he says.

Cakacaka, now based in Germany, is working towards a PhD that will address the influence of religion in harvesting marine resources from tabus, that are opened periodically in Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.

However, he is also an authority on religious sermons; he gives some very passionate ones as a pastor himself.

Source

• Mongabay.org
• Image: Facebook

Police in Kokopo said the men were arrested and charged for threatening workers at a conservation land area in Pomio.

The men had stopped the company from logging their conservation area and typical of village boys, they were carrying their bush knives during that time but did not harm anyone.

According to village leader Jacob Samo, an open forum was held at the Palmalmal District Office to discuss the demarcation of a conservation area within the Ralopal and Pomata Concession areas. 
The meeting was attended by district and lands officers.

Source

• tokstret.com/Post/Courier
• Image: Greenpeace

The CWL have been conducting a waste management survey and taught 35 women the skills to convert trash into usable items.

"Our Memorandum of Understanding with the Catholic Women's League is strengthening the sustainability of this project that emanated from the Clean Pacific campaign," said Ms. Eleni Tokaduadua, Acting Director of the Department of Environment in Fiji.

"We're now working with SPREP to help us sustain this project and ensuring there is continuity in the practices."

Source

• Scoop
• Image: sprep.org

The synod has decided to move away from fossil fuels because it encourages companies to find and exploit more oil, gas and coal.

A spokesman said the church is concerned about the long term health of investments in the fossil fuel industry and also the effect of carbon emissions on climate change. Read More

Pacific Conference of Churches Treaties Adviser Murray Isimeli says the region cannot afford damage to the environment by testing.

"There is no evidence on what effect testing or mining will have so we would caution against doing anything until there is substantial proof of the effects of disturbing the sea bed," Mr Isimeli said.

His comments came after a regional summit on deep sea mining organised by SOPAC (South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission) in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

He also warned governments and their representatives about liberally using the Bible to support mining after speakers at the Vanuatu summit spoke of underwater minerals as divine blessings.

Source

• Island Business
• Image: AKRockefeller

Saint Mary Star of the Sea has invested in five-watt solar panels on the roof of the parish building in Campion Road.

Father Yvan Sergy says the panels will be installed in the second week of August, after months of fundraising.

"They will produce electricity that will be bought by the electric company who supplies us.

"They will then offset the cost against our bill. We cannot produce enough for the whole bill but it will certainly make a difference."

Father Yvan says the fact that solar power is a renewable source of energy was a key factor when deciding to go ahead with the project.

"The church has a responsibility to look after the Earth. We are trying to set an example and, hopefully, it will encourage individuals to do the same."

Continue reading

One sign of hope: UNICEF sponsored forums all over NZ asked young people of 15-24 years to describe 'The Future We Want'. The 6 main topics are surely what we all want:

• Equity
• A thriving natural environment
• Clean rivers and oceans
• Sustainable food
• Sustainable cities
• Fair trade

The young people's recommendations have been sent to the Government and New Zealand's delegates to Rio. After all, the young will inherit the mess we are leaving, and have a right to have their views listened to - and implemented.

These concerns fit well with the 7 priority themes identified for Rio plus 20:

• Water
• Sustainable agriculture
• Energy
• Green jobs
• Oceans
• Disasters
• Sustainable cities.

All of these themes are fleshed out to highlight the vital components within each that need to be addressed.

Another sign of hope, an amazing one, New Zealand, through Amy Adams, the Minister for Conservation, is championing a new global deal, initiated by concerned citizens in the US and a number of other countries, to end nearly $1 trillion dollars of taxpayer subsidies to big oil, coal and gas companies. If this money were to be switched instead to greener, more just development, it would literally save our planet. Please God this new plan to save the planet will have been included on the agenda for the Rio plus20 Earth Summit preparatory meeting in New York.

The results of the first Earth Summit may be ambiguous, but the global environment is certainly better than it might have been without them, and global awareness of environmental concerns has come to the forefront of our consciousness, even politicians!

The alternative social summit at Rio, the People's Summit, which includes NGOs, Jesuits and other groups working for justice in the fair distribution of the earth's resources, will be worth watching.

There will be more Jesuits - mainly from the Global Ignatian Advocacy Network (GIAN) on migration - at the official summit.

Mary-Ann Greaney from the Wellington Archdiocesan JPD will also be there.

What can we do? Pray confidently that the Holy Spirit will guide the deliberations at Rio plus 20

Kia kaha, e tangata!

To know more on Rio 20 we recommend the materials of CIDSE, the Third World Network and the EcoJesuit newsletter

Click here for CIDSE
Click her for Third World Network
Click here to sign up to a daily online newsletter sent from EcoJesuit.

for Global Ignatian Advocacy Network (GIAN) on migration

Trica Kane is a grandmother and retired Librarian

'The presence of this foreign company in the district of Mimika has not resulted in any improvements in the conditions of the local people,' said Wiem Maury, secretary of the PGGP. He said that in addition to this, the very presence of Freeport in the area has always been a very serious problem for the people.

'The welfare of the people who are the true owners of the rich natural resource continues to be a matter of great concern. Nor is there any guarantee about security in the area either,' he added.

Source

• www.scoop.co.nz
• Image: wn.com

"This year's theme is a call to people from all walks of life, irrespective of creed, ethnicity, political leanings, to reflect on "our mindless plunder of the earth"

Mr Emberson said the theme challenged people to commit to combined efforts to address the root causes of environment degradation in Fiji.

"This theme urges all human beings to respect, care and protect all of creation. It is also a call to recognition that greed at many levels, self-centeredness and a belief in unlimited growth have brought exploitation and destruction on earth and its creatures," he said.

Mr Emberson said PCC believed that people should realise that the climate change threatening the environment in Fiji was linked to the greed and irresponsible approach towards planet Earth.

"Excessive consumption of fossil fuels, the logging of trees, unsustainable mining, the pollution and plunder of our environment and oceans compounds us as people who depend on a healthy environment."

Source
The Fiji Times ONLINE