EarthBeat Weekly: 'Differentiated responsibility' and the climate crisis

'Differentiated responsibility' and the climate crisis Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change April 11, 2025   Solar panels on the roof of the Paul VI audience hall at the Vatican, Dec. 1, 2010.  (CNS/Paul Haring) Earlier this week, I was invited to be a guest on The Francis Effect podcast to talk about the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' landmark encyclical, "Laudato Si', On Care for Our Common Home."  One of the questions podcast host and NCR senior correspondent Heidi Schlumpf asked me was: Does Laudato Si' have anything to say to this particular moment in U.S. history, especially given the Trump administration's various attempts to ignore the existence of climate change and its impacts? My response? Yes, it does, but it's actually the same thing Laudato Si' has been saying to many of us in America all along. And that's an acknowledgement of what Francis calls "differentiated responsibility" — the idea that we're not all equally responsible for the climate crisis, and we're not all equally affected by its impacts.  Speaking generally about the United States, we are more responsible for the problem. The U.S. is the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases and behind only China in present-day emissions. We're the largest user and producer of oil and gas. We have a single-use mentality of rapid consumption and disposal, what is often called a "throwaway culture" in church lingo.  Yet many of us have the privilege of avoiding the inconvenient and hazardous results of those realities. We can either remove ourselves from dangerous situations or we have access to adaptation and mitigation tools like bottled water, air filters and HVAC systems. Often, communities who are already vulnerable and under resourced must suffer the increasingly severe consequences.  With the Trump administration's support for the oil industry alongside its proposed rollbacks to environmental regulations and decreases or eliminations in funding for aid, we will see more communities affected by environmental hazards and extreme weather events related to climate change, while also having less access to funding and other resources to support them when it happens or invest in prevention or resilience measures for the future.  At the same time, those individuals who continue to accumulate wealth, or are at least wealthy enough to withstand significant economic losses, will retain the ability to evade the consequences of the climate crisis for a while longer.  Climate change impacts everyone, but to what extent differs depending on location and resources. As temperatures rise and regulations fall, we'll see growth in the disparity between who enjoys the privilege of adapting to, mitigating or escaping climate impacts, and who suffers — even dies — from them.  As Catholics with a preferential option for the poor and a belief in the equal dignity of and right to life for all, that's something that should bother us, and to which Laudato Si' demands we respond. Listen here: The Francis Effect podcast: Tariffs; creation preaching; 10 years of Laudato Si'     What else is new on EarthBeat:   Air pollution link to fetal, maternal problems calls for a Catholic lens by Peter Finney Jr., OSV News In an effort to blunt criticism of the poor air quality in Beijing prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Chinese government implemented ambitious measures to curb air pollution. The result was not exactly shocking to Kimberly Terrell, a research scientist and director of community engagement at the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic: Community and maternal health improved.   In 50-plus years at a cliffside Greek island monastery, one monk keeps faith and community together by Giovanna Dell'orto, Associated Press For more than 50 years, Spyridon Denaxas has prayed, worked and welcomed the faithful in an island monastery carved into a seaside cliff that's little changed since its founding more than a millennium ago.   Peace and care for creation are linked, dicastery says by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service "Seeds of Peace and Hope" is the theme for the World Day of Prayer for Creation, which will be celebrated Sept. 1.   9 of 10 Christian leaders think climate change is real. Half never tell to their flock. by Stylianos Syropoulos, Gregg Sparkman, The Conversation While the overwhelming majority of Christian religious leaders accept the human-driven reality of climate change, nearly half have never mentioned climate change or humans' role in it to their congregations. Further, only a quarter have spoken about it more than once or twice.   NCR recipes for Lent: Vegan white bean chili by Stephanie Yeagle  You can adjust this meatless meal with more or less heat, and serve it with the baked good of your choice.     What's happening in other climate news: The UN's bold new guide for a green utopia –Jason P. Dinh for Atmos  These fluffy white wolves explain everything wrong with bringing back extinct animals —Marina Bolotnikova for Vox Trump signs executive orders to boost coal, a reliable but polluting energy source –Matthew Daly for the Associated Press Trump's EPA plans to stop collecting greenhouse gas emissions data from most polluters —Sharon Lerner for ProPublica Fossil fuels generate less than half of US electricity for first month ever, says energy think tank —Georgina Mccartney for Reuters Trump administration orders half of national forests open for logging –Angie Orellana Hernandez for the Washington Post Most critical minerals are on Indigenous lands. Will miners respect tribal sovereignty? –Taylar Dawn Stagner for Grist Clean energy generates major economic benefits, especially in red states –Karin Kirk for Yale Climate Connection   Final Beat: This week's Final Beat comes from a news item in Global Sisters Report's Monday Starter. The Benedictine Sisters of Erie were among groups applauding the cancellation of a plastic waste facility proposed for northwestern Pennsylvania that opponents said would have exacerbated pollution in two states. On April 3, International Recycling Group (IRG) announced it had abandoned plans to build a $300 million facility in Erie to convert plastic waste into recycled plastic materials — as much as 100,000 tons annually — and fuel pellets for a steel mill in Gary, Indiana. Plastics manufacturers and fossil fuel companies have touted such "advanced recycling" techniques as a solution to the global problem of plastic pollution. But critics have cast such efforts as "greenwashing" that extend polluting industries and distract from the core issue of reducing the amount of plastic created. Currently, 400 million tons of plastic is produced annually, a total expected to triple by 2060. Meanwhile, less than 10% of plastic globally is recycled, and many forms of plastic currently cannot be recycled due the complex blend of chemicals in end products. The IRG plant's cancellation represents "a win for Lake Erie," said Benedictine Sr. Anne McCarthy, coordinator for the congregation's peace and justice ministry.  Thanks for reading EarthBeat. Stephanie Clary Environment Editor National Catholic Reporter sclary@ncronline.org     Featured Advertisers   Book Talk:  Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus’s Greatest Miracle Reverend James Martin, S.J. April 16 | 7 p.m. Sacred Heart University   Advertisement

Truth and Action Roundup 4.11.25

View this email in your browser Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup, a reliable weekly source of information, inspiration, and action for the first hundred days of the second Trump administration. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to continue receiving it. Today is Friday, April 11, day 82 of the new Trump administration. Amidst much chaos and discouraging news this week, we’ve also seen the humble persistence of activists pushing against cruel immigration policies, reminding us that faithful perseverance can bear good fruit. As we prepare to move into Holy Week, let’s open our hearts to the message of Palm Sunday, in which Jesus’ arrival on a donkey heralds his unexpected, creative, and transformative liberation from both oppression and sin. — Rev. Adam Taylor and Rev. Moya Harris, Sojourners In the News Here’s what’s been happening this week: 1) President Trump abruptly paused some of the most dramatic tariffs he had announced last week, seemingly reacting to days of turmoil and threats of a global recession. The so-called reciprocal tariffs will be paused for 90 days, but 10% tariffs will remain in place on most countries. Trump also increased the tariffs on China to a whopping 145% in the latest escalation between the world’s two largest economies. 2) The Trump administration has stopped collecting many federal workers’ union dues through voluntary payroll deductions. This union-busting tactic comes in the context of a recent executive order that seeks to end collective bargaining rights for most federal employees on “national security” grounds, citing an expansive and dubious interpretation of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act. 3) The human cost of slashing foreign aid continues to mount. This week, the Trump administration announced it was discontinuing emergency food aid to Afghanistan and Yemen, two nations that are already reeling from decades of war, including U.S.-led campaigns. The cuts could affect food assistance to millions of people. Elsewhere, cuts to funding for clinics in South Sudan may have contributed to the deaths of eight people from cholera who were forced to walk hours to reach open health centers. 4) People of faith and conscience are pushing back on government actions against migrant people. Some recent examples: Teachers in border czar Tom Homan’s hometown successfully secured the release of three children who had been detained by ICE. Tennessee clergy disrupted a committee debate in the state house on a bill that would deny certain immigrant children the right to an education. And last week, clergy from more than 30 Pennsylvania religious groups built an altar outside Philadelphia’s ICE office to protest Trump’s executive order allowing immigration arrests at houses of worship. Take Action Pray: On Wednesday, April 16 at noon Eastern Time, attend our weekly Faithful Witness Wednesday vigil outside the U.S. Capitol Building — in person or virtually — as we call on Congress to exercise greater moral courage in preventing executive overreach. Organize: Plan or join #PublicWitness events during Holy Week and Easter. Get resources and ideas for how you can mark Holy Week in your community by taking action to uphold the teachings of Jesus and his special focus on care for the poorest and most vulnerable. Act: Demand that Congress stop Trump’s tariffs and reclaim their constitutionally mandated trade authority. No president should have the power to single-handedly disrupt the global and national economy. Call your members of Congress and demand that they support bipartisan legislation like the Trade Review Act of 2025. Create: Participate in the national “Quilting for the Constitution” campaign by writing messages to congressional leaders on fabric squares that will be sown into quilts and delivered to Congress. Learn how you can mail a quilt square, host a “quilt-in” and more. What We’re Reading and Watching When the Revolution Doesn’t Come | “They are the children of the Black Panther party — the self-styled Panther cubs. We join them as they continue to wrestle, 50 years later, with ... the hope for radical change that did not materialise. That hope lives on in the cubs, and their reflections on America’s current crisis offers burning lessons for today.” (Documentary and essay published by the Guardian) The Powers and Principalities Manipulating Columbia University | As a professor at Columbia, I cannot remain silent about the crisis my university is facing. (By Ashley Moyse) DOGE and Trump Threaten AIDS Program that “Kept a Generation Alive” | For 22 years, the U.S. expanded global access to medication known for its life-saving “Lazarus effect.” Now the program’s future is in jeopardy. (By Bekah McNeel) Deep Breaths   Walking in Faith, Not Fear  As we enter Holy Week, the Revised Common Lectionary brings us to Psalm 118, a psalm of thanksgiving often recited in moments of collective celebration. Portions of this psalm are quoted on Palm Sunday, as we remember the crowd shouting “Hosanna!” and laying branches before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem. Yet even in this moment of joyful praise, the psalm carries deeper tension. Verse 6 — “The Lord is on my side; I do not fear. What can mortals do to me?” — is not included in the official lectionary reading, but it speaks powerfully into the moment we are living through. This line, written in the voice of someone who has faced danger and survived, names a truth we need right now. Our world is marked by war, political division, climate crisis, financial uncertainty, and rising anxiety. In many ways, we are entering this Holy Week surrounded by unrest — just as Jesus did. The road to the cross was not peaceful. Jesus entered Jerusalem with celebration in the streets and chaos in the background — political tension, religious manipulation, and looming violence. Palm Sunday is not the end of the journey — it’s the beginning of a final, painful stretch. And yet, Jesus walked it. So how do we walk our stretch of road? Psalm 118 reminds us that worship is not escapism — it’s strategy. It’s how we remember that God is present in the tension. It’s how we resist fear turning into despair. It’s how we return to joy, even in uncertain times. This psalm reflects thanksgiving and joy while also acknowledging the human reality of justified fear.  Whether you’re anchored in faith, feeling disconnected, or in need of hope — consider how you are making space to mark Holy Week. Attend or tune into a service on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, or Good Friday. Light a candle during meditation and prayer. Pause to remember. Be intentional in how you engage the Holy.  I urge you to carry this with you: “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 118:29) Because the fear is real. But so is God. ––Rev. Moya Harris, Director of Racial Justice, Sojourners The Truth and Action Roundup is compiled by Sojourners staff: President: Rev. Adam Russell Taylor Director of Racial Justice: Rev. Moya Harris Senior Research Associate: J.K. Granberg-Michaelson Senior Adviser and Director to the President’s Office: Elizabeth Denlinger Reaves Chief Program and Impact Officer: Bryan Epps Director of Congregational Outreach & Education: Rev. Andrea Saccoccio Associate Editor: Josina Guess Mobilizing and Policy Assistant: Miriam Tellez Senior Director of Marketing: Sandra Sims Copyright © 2025 Sojourners. All rights reserved. Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842

WCC News: WCC’s new climate justice tools bring hope for children

As the World Council of Churches (WCC) debuted its new resource on legal tools for climate justice, the focus was on hope for children—a hope strongly backed by knowledge on how churches can hold financial actors accountable for their role in perpetuating the climate crisis. Participants of the event explored the new WCC resorce "Hope for Children Through Climate Justice: Legal Tools to Hold Financiers Accountable”. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 10 April 2025 "Hope for Children Through Climate Justice: Legal Tools to Hold Financiers Accountable” has been a long time in the making, acknowledged Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs.  Prove offered a history of the WCC’s work in climate justice, particularly with an approach of “following the money” to reveal which corporate entities or individuals are acting with disregard toward children’s futures.  Examining intentions  WCC senior programme lead for Children and Climate Frederique Seidel offered an introduction and overview of handbook, which includes a menu of simple and basic ways to get started on the climate litigation path.  She also offered the reason why: people of conscience need to act—especially those who may not realize their own money is funding harmful environmental practices by corporate entities.  “Nobody really has the intention to harm children through their banking or investment choices. Many people don’t really see the connection, and when you explain it to them, they are willing to go out of their way to do the right thing for the protection of children’s futures. So we created a template that you can send to your banks and pension funds,” explained Seidel.  Yvan Maillard from Swiss Church Aid/HEKS-EPER, the relief organization of the Swiss Protestant Reformed Church, shares their experience in supporting the legal action for climate justice. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC Case studies shared  Yvan Maillard from Swiss Church Aid/HEKS-EPER, the relief organization of the Swiss Protestant Reformed Church, shared an update on a case related to Holcim, a large cement-making corporation.  “There are four plaintiffs,” explained Maillard as he told the story of people gravely affected by climate change. “They live on a small island.” Working in the fishing or tourism sectors, the residents of Pari Island in Indonesia see increasingly severe flooding—which means tourists are canceling their trips, the fish population is dwindling, and saltwater is contaminating wells.  “There is now a growing anxiety for the future of the people on the island and also their children’s future,” said Maillard.  Holcim, which has emitted billions of tons of CO2, of course is not the only company responsible for the climate crisis—but it’s certainly one of the largest ones, noted Maillard.  “This is why the plaintiffs decided to choose this company,” explained Maillard. “This is a civil lawsuit asking for damages, and they also ask the company to reduce its emissions.” “But justice in Switzerland is not very quick,” added Maillard. “The plaintiffs hope a decision will happen before the end of this year.” Lawyers and climate specialists Sebastian Voegeli and Marina Rubeli from "Avocat.e.s pour le climat". Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC Proactive approach Lawyers and climate specialists Sebastian Voegeli and Marina Rubeli shared how to take a proactive approach toward litigation. “The vast majority of our work involves advice on how to seize environmental legislation here in Switzerland,” explained Voegeli.  He offered examples of very successful legal engagement, including one related to FIFA and calling into question its claim of having “emissions free” events. Voegeli explained how FIFA was “greenwashing” or deliberately making false claims about its climate responsibility.  “The media coverage was significant and this also motivated the organizers of other sporting events to contact us beforehand to know our position on their communication on environmental matters,” said Voegeli.  Rubeli, who suggested that plaintiffs choose a specific financial project to take action, explained a variety of approaches Swiss bank account holders can use. Cantonal banks can be held accountable to abide to international human rights frameworks, including the right to a healthy environment and the right to life. The Swiss Fairness Commission and the Unfair Competition Act are two other avenues enabling Swiss bank account holders to hold financial institutions accountable for misleading communication about investments that pretend to be *good for the planet.”  Ruebli also explained how people in Switzerland can use the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) complaint as a mediation mechanism.  With this mechanism, ultimately a commitment made by a bank may be limited, she acknowledged. "It leads to compromise and it’s non-binding and non-enforceable.” Frederique Seidel, WCC senior programme lead for Children and Climate and Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs with the newly published handbook. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC Still, as Seidel pointed out: “The OECD is non-binding. But imagine if all the churches started doing OECD complaints! Such engagement does influence decision making.” A Filipino priest, Rev. Edwin Gariguez, gave an update on his work with European banks to demand they curtail ties with companies behind new fossil fuel projects currently destroying the Verde Islands Passage, the most biodiverse marine habitat in the world, comparable to an Amazon of the oceans.  He spoke specifically of San Miguel Global Power, for which UBS is the second largest European investor. “Most of the communities in the Verde Islands Passage are suffering a lot from the fossil fuel projects because the fish are beginning to decrease and dirty energy companies bring devastation,” he said.  As the dialogue came to a close, Prove brought attention back the moral reason behind all this work: hope for children.  “We have to pull every lever on an emergency basis in order to have this hope,” he said. WCC member churches and partners are warmly encouraged to join the online training on the tools for climate litigation, on 15 April at 2 pm CET. Register for the online training on 15 April here. Churches and partners who would like to join this project are invited to send a note to churchesforchildren@wcc-coe.org.  Publication "Hope for Children Through Climate Justice: Legal Tools to Hold Financiers Accountable" Overview with highlights from the new resource (4-page flyer) Online Training on the legal tools for climate justice “Hope for Children” Photo gallery from the Launch event of the resource Learn more about Churches’ Commitments to Children and Climate-Responsible Banking See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland