Economics appears to have been predominant, so that increased inequality and environmental destruction are experienced in the pursuit of economic growth.  There is an increasing awareness of the need to treat people and planet more equally, and to see that the three are intertwined.

In this article we call for a fourth pillar to sustainable development, namely spirituality, or to make it four “Ps”, “Pneuma”.  This affirms our belief at SAFCEI in the importance of the spiritual dimension which could bring about the change that is needed.

It is recognised that the three “Conventions” of the UN – that is Climate Change, Desertification and Biodiversity – have not worked adequately.  Our interpretation is that it is because Economics has dominated, without any moral or spiritual guidelines.  The “Green Economy” is an attempt to green our present economic system.  It remains to be seen if this will be accepted. What is needed is a moral/spiritual dimension to which economies are answerable. In other words, are our economic policies ethical and right, not just “will they make money?”

 Our challenge is to bring our religious and faith principles into the realm of our economic priorities and behaviour.

“The Spiritual Dimensions of Sustainable Development” is the title of a project launched by the Earth Charter Task Force on Religion, Spirituality, and Ethics and the Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values. The purpose of this project is to bring together a global alliance of religious, spiritual and ethical organizations to deepen the understanding, public awareness and practical application of the ethical and spiritual foundations of sustainable development. 

Earth charter logo

The inspiration for the Spiritual Dimensions of Sustainability Project crystallized at the Earth Charter +10 Conference in Ahmedabad, India, which called for deepening the general understanding of sustainable development that considers sustainability based on distinct but interrelated ecological, social and economic dimensions. The former Dutch prime minister Ruud Lubbers stated: “We may even begin to speak about four ‘P’s: People, Planet, Profit and ‘Pneuma’ ”

Earth Charter International Council Co-Chair Steven C. Rockefeller commented: “There is a fourth pillar – the global ethical and spiritual consciousness that is awakening in civil society around the world and that finds expression in the Earth Charter. This global ethical consciousness is in truth the first pillar of a sustainable way of life, because it involves the internalization of the values of sustainable human development and provides the inspiration and motivation to act as well as essential guidance regarding the path to genuine sustainability.”

The Earth Charter articulates some of the deeper, ethical and spiritual dimensions of sustainability, including the awareness that:

• In the midst of our magnificent diversity of cultures, we are one human family with a common destiny;

• We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and the global are linked;

• Humanity does not “own” the planet but shares it with a myriad of life forms with which we are bound together in an Earth community;

• Humanity is part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our home, is alive with a unique community of life. 

• The protection of Earth’s vitality, diversity, and beauty is a sacred trust;

• When basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more;

• The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live with reverence for the mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in nature;

• All beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings.

• For making headway in the great transition to a just, sustainable and peaceful future, fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living. This requires a change of mind and heart, a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility. We need to indentify ourselves with the whole Earth Community as well as our local communities and form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another. 

The Spiritual Dimensions of Sustainability Project invites religious, spiritual and ethical organizations to:

1) Participate in a global conversation aimed at deepening the understanding of these spiritual or “inner” dimensions of sustainability;

2) Promote a greater public awareness of this “fourth pillar” of sustainability, especially by bringing these dimensions to bear on the major international debates and processes including the Rio + 20 Conference and the UN Decade for Sustainable Development (DESD); speaking in a unified voice for justice, sustainability, and all-embracing peace; and developing joint strategies for advocating effectively for approaches to sustainable development that include the spiritual purposes of life;

3) Deepen the practice of compassionate and sustainable living through exchanging good practices and available educational materials; helping to establish a Millennium Share Fund by encouraging its members and adherents to pledge a voluntary self-taxation of 0,1 % of one’s income to help realize the Millennium Development Goals and alleviate abject misery; and helping to create a Council of Conscience which provides moral guidance on the urgent global challenges humanity is facing. Please download some conceptual thoughts from Rabbi Soetendorp on these two mechanism here.  

With the help of an international steering committee, Rabbi Soetendorp has drafted the Interreligious Statement Towards Rio that is currently being revised in an international consultation with the aim of articulating a unified and powerful message of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions to the Rio + 20 Conference. It presents some basic recommendations for the outcomes of the Rio + 20 Conference such as creating a green economy ensures social justice and equity, protects the ecological balance and creates economic sufficiency by internalizing social and environmental costs into the economic bottom line; and affirming a framework of strong sustainability aimed at securing Earth’s bounty and beauty for present and future generations, such as the Earth Charter, as a guide to development policy and practice. 

The vision is to present this statement in an interreligious assembly in Rio de Janeiro that would appeal to the assembled governments to take bold and far-reaching decision at this historic conference. As a local action to prepare the Rio + 20 Conference, the Soetendorp Institute invites faith-based organizations to organize solidarity marches between different houses of worship and contemplation that would include stops at the different places for conversations about what the diverse traditions have to say about protecting the environment and creating a healthy future for forthcoming generations.  

A first discussion on strengthening ethical and spiritual input into Rio+20 took place in New York City on December 14, 2011.  Close to 50 participants from different backgrounds shared their organizations’ recommendations for the outcomes of the Rio + 20 Conference,  identified common priorities, and strategized as to how we can work most effectively on the Road to Rio+20 to ensure that our policy priorities are included in the Zero Draft, and in the final outcome document.

The meeting began with a review of the recommendations from the 75 submissions to the Compilation document discuss ethics, spirituality, the Earth Charter.  These affirm the need for a stronger, ethical and spiritual framework for sustainable development. They emphasize the adoption of specific policy mechanisms, such as ombudspersons for future generations, implementing the Precautionary Principle, new measures of GDP, and millennium consumption goals.

For more information and to get involved in the project, please contact Michael Slaby at rio+20AtSoetendorp.org and Rick Clugston at rmclugstonAtAol.com .

Piet Willem Chevalier, owner and operator of I Love Windpower

“If I had to sum it up in one word, I would say identity,” says Piet Willem Chevalier, owner and operator of I Love Windpower. “On my first trip to Mail, I saw this group of people that were really shy, that didn’t want to ask questions, they had no confidence. After we made that first turbine, we threw a party and it was quite amazing to see how this sense of identity grew.”

One day Piet literally drove off the road, transfixed by a set of wind turbines. He couldn’t have known at that time that this incident would change his life. In a few years he would be bringing wind power to Mali where the poorest communities often pay the highest rates for energy. 

One thing led to another and Piet started working as an engineer for Siemens wind. After about a year he discovered the work of Welsh engineer, Hugh Piggott. Mr. Piggott is the inventor of an open source, affordable, small-scale wind turbine design. Piet invited Hugh to come and teach a workshop in the Netherlands. It took some convincing, but Mr. Piggott finally agreed.

That workshop taught Piet how to build these turbines, and in doing so it changed Piet’s life. Piet knew that he needed to take this new skill and technology to a place where it would be most beneficial and he could pass it on. One of his best friends was from Mali and he figured that Mali was as good as anywhere else to get started. He founded I Love Windpower. Designing a course that was easy to teach, transcended language barriers and used readily available materials, Piet flew to Mali. In two weeks, he and a team of 10 people, 5 who couldn’t read or write and 5 who couldn’t speak any French, built a better turbine than Piet himself had done.

The windmills deliver energy to local homes, but they also had some unexpected impacts. Two men participating in the workshop were from different tribes that for the last 20 years had not spoken to each other. During the workshop the two men became great friends, and now the tribes are talking again. The sense of identity and ownership derived from this windmill project has been remarkable.

“This is something that I never realized when starting this. Even if this project is going to fail completely and they never make a business out of it – which I still believe is possible and just takes some more time – every investment has accomplished so much from a social and identity perspective.”

Recent events in Mali have threatened I Love Windpower’s projects – not only because of the military coup and the rebel unrest, but also due to an impending food crisis. Piet recently wondered whether his little amount of money would be better used feeding people. After much debate with his team, they decided to keep the project running. They thought giving these people something to be proud of, and which one day may become a financially sustainable business, was deemed equally important.

Piet is now also working with Wind Empowerment, a group dedicated to small turbine development across Africa and the globe. He will be attending Rio+20 and setting up windmills around the conference. Some of his volunteers have taken the skills gained with Piet even further, and in one case started the Tanzania branch of I Love Windpower.

As for the Mali project, it is too early to see where it will go, but one thing remains certain, small-scale windmills are helping build community and identity while providing much needed electricity to Mali.

Piet Willem Chevalier - promoting wind power in Mali

Consumer Choice - image by Ambro / freedigitalphotos.net

Despite legislation requiring products with 5% or more GMOs (Genetically Modified Organism) to be labelled, this is still not being done, which  violates our legal right to know what we are consuming.

As consumers, we are told that this is where our power lies; in our choices and where we spend our money. But what choice do we have when deprived of essential information and our ability to direct the market?

Supermarkets try to argue an empty case that GMOs are safe. According to Melinda White, Pick n Pay’s Foods Legal Compliance Officer “this (GMO) is not a food safety matter; genetically modified soy and maize have been produced for many years in our country”. The need is ignored for testing genetically modified organisms to be intergenerational because its effects may be evident only in future generations … in our children and grandchildren.  Claims that GMOs are safe are therefore unfounded as they are not based on rigorous research. The choice to feed our children untested food with unknown consequences is ours.  Without labeling, we are deprived of our consumer power.

According to Future Life, 85% of our maize and soya in South Africa is grown from GMO seeds, said to be adapted to local conditions.  If this is true, we should be free to choose whether or not to use products with soy or maize content.  This decision should rest with the consumer not the producer.

The Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) urges immediate action in appropriately labelling food products as required by our new legislation.  The lack of GM labelling and adequate enforcement of this legislation is unethical, according to Bishop Geoff Davies, Executive Director of SAFCEI.  “Our society is entitled to know the content and origin of the foods we consume,” he says.

Moreover, the use of GMO crops poses the threat of genetic contamination of our traditional varieties of food. This could result in the loss of food biodiversity which is vitally important. A diverse food base is essential to our survival in the face of dramatic changes in climate. Without food biodiversity and a wide range of natural seeds, our ability to feed ourselves is severely compromised.

We are told that the costs for new packaging can’t be justified and immediate labelling is, therefore, not possible. The consumer, however, is not asking for new packaging, but simply for the basic right of the consumer to receive appropriate information, which could be achieved by using stickers to indicate the GMO content, until new packaging becomes a viable option without any wastage.

SAFCEI urges that the public be informed in keeping with the new legislation and that the voice of morality should guide the actions of suppliers and those responsible for law enforcement. What is being done to ensure product compliance with the law and respect for the consumers’ right to know? We look forward to overdue action to ensure product compliance with the law and respect for the consumer’s right to know.  “Let there be no more excuses,” says Bishop Davies.

Image by Sura Nualpradid / freedigitalphotos.net

Following the recent talks about nuclear security in South Korea, it is clear that on this small and fragile planet we need a world free of nuclear weapons. But what about our use of nuclear energy? As seen from Fukushima, its use can have such devastating consequences.

In the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute, we believe we have to apply moral principles of justice and equity when making energy choices. We made this call at the COP17 climate talks in Durban in our Act Now for Climate Justice campaign — that is, justice for people and planet.

What is needed is a Copernican revolution. We used to think the sun went around the Earth and were proven wrong. Now we assume that life and the planet revolves around us humans — we are the centre of it all. The revolution needed is for us to recognise that the web of life and our wellbeing is dependent on the wellbeing of this planet. We humans are but part of the web, entirely dependent on a healthy planet. Our moral responsibilities must include those to the planet.

We threaten all life through our carbon-intensive way of life, our habitat destruction and pollution. Coal, we now realise, is not only costly but also highly damaging. Nuclear fission is a hugely powerful source of energy; its supporters claim it is the safest and most cost-effective answer for our energy needs. But we also know that when it goes wrong, it goes horribly wrong.

Eskom continues to propagate the myth that coal and nuclear power are the only sources of energy that can provide base-load electricity. This is no longer the case. With “smart grids”, thermal batteries and a mix of wind, sun and ocean currents, we can produce clean base-load electricity that is cheaper than nuclear power and new coal and has no fuel or decommissioning costs.

We are deeply concerned about the government’s nuclear plans because it is the wrong direction to take. Nuclear energy requires a centralised grid system and is extremely costly. Taking into account the mining of uranium, its transport and the construction of power plants, nuclear energy is certainly neither carbon-neutral nor “clean”.

Climate change is horribly real. We know we need low-carbon, labour-intensive industry and sustainable employment with decentralised, renewable energy that puts power into the hands of people in local communities. Let us enter the clean solar age and leave behind the dark ages of fossil fuel and nuclear.

Going the nuclear route will drive the final nail into the coffin of our democracy. It will further concentrate power in the hands of the wealthy and powerful. There has been no genuine consultation or engagement with civil society, no debate in Parliament. The government decided on nuclear energy and 20 months ago the director general of the department of energy was reported as saying: “If the government wants nuclear, I will make sure they get it.”

Image by Pixomar / freedigitalphotos.net

Why, when some of the most industrialised countries, such as Germany and Japan, are turning their backs on it? The only conclusion is that there is an immense amount of money in the nuclear industry for those involved and in power. They will reap the financial benefits, not the majority of South Africans. This will exacerbate the poverty-wealth gap.

We are now in the humiliating position of being the most unequal country in the world. Growing dependency on nuclear power will only make this worse. The corruption potential could make the arms deal look like a Sunday-school picnic. And, because it is dangerous and has to be secured from terrorists, it has to be secret, hence laws to muzzle the media.

Nowhere does private equity risk investing in nuclear energy. Only governments do this. But we, the taxpayers, have not been consulted. Private investors are rolling out renewable energy as fast as the department of energy will permit them. We need to be like Germany and Italy, where roofs can be covered in photovoltaic (solar) panels and income gained from feeding electricity into the grid. Will we always have to rely on the whims of Eskom?

The government wants to generate 9.6GW from nuclear energy. This will take at least 10 to 12 years to come on stream. Last year, Italy installed 9GW of photovoltaics, all paid for by private investors. In one year we could overcome our electricty crisis with renewable energy. Why do we not do it? If we spend R1-trillion on new nuclear plants, there will be little left for the top priority — the training and capacity-building of our people, the equipping of the rural poor with decentralised renewable energy.

We should be doing all we can to combat climate change. Renewable energy and energy efficiency will do this. Coal and nuclear power may increase our energy supply, but they concentrate wealth and destroy our planetary life-support systems.

A poster at COP17 asked: “Will the last person on Earth please turn out the lights?” It was a stark reminder that we might generate all the energy we need but could find ourselves on a lifeless planet. It is immoral and irresponsible to pursue an energy path that destroys life and impoverishes people. Consider the future of our children, not our vested financial interests.

Cape Town Diocese Environment Group

invites you to a

Greening our Churches Workshop

Saturday 21 April 2012

Rondevlei Nature Reserve

09h00 to 12h30

Are you interested in making your church a centre of sustainability?

This will be an opportunity to hear stories, share challenges, find ways of putting ideas into practice and plan actions for World Environment Day on 5 June 2012. 

All are welcome,

RSVP:   

Mariette Daubenton     dauby@iafrica.com         021 794 5419

or Kate Davies                  kated@safcei.org.za       083 468 1798

Earth Hour is an annual global environmental event in which hundreds of millions of people, organisations, businesses and governments participate by switching off their lights for an hour to promote action on climate change.

For Earth Hour 2012, on the 31st March, JAEI organised a wonderful event called “Evening with the Stars”.The evening was held at St Mike’s with their own resident astronomer, Dave Osburn.

From 18.30 to 19.00 there was time for fellowship. This was followed by a talk from Dave Osborn titled “More to the Heavens than meets the eye”. There was then time to have a picnic together before the lights switched off at 20.30!

Light pollution obscures the stars in the night sky for city dwellers (and, like any other form of pollution, disrupts ecosystems and has adverse health effects). As such, this was of course the perfect time for star gazing. At 20.35, Dave Osburn gave a conducter tour around the South African night sky.

For those of you interested in gazing at the stars some more in darker places, we include a map of the night sky in the southern hemisphere in April. Updated maps are published by the IZIKO Planetarium every month. They also provide extra information about particular celestial events and the visible planets and stars.

SAFCEI is committed to Earth Hour and all our staff participated in this event this year, switching off our lights and enjoying the glow of candles and stars in the night sky. We look forward to taking part in this event again next year and hope you also feel inspired by JAEI’s initiative.

Photo by Arvind Balaraman

SAFCEI supports this global initiative and our staff will all be switching off their lights in solidarity. Coincidentally, it’s the perfect time for a candlelit dinner!

Earth Hour has become the largest environmental event in history as hundreds of millions of people, businesses and governments around the world unite each year. More than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2011 alone, sending a powerful message for action on climate change. It also ushered in a new era with members going Beyond the Hour to commit to lasting action for the planet. Without a doubt, it’s shown how great things can be achieved when people come together for a common cause.

Your faith community or religious organisation can support Earth Hour 2012 by firstly switching out the lights at your places of worship and other buildings, as well as encouraging members and your local community to participate. As revered institutions, religious organisations are well positioned to be a driving force of action beyond the hour by leading, educating and encouraging local community members to make ongoing change to reduce their impact on the planet. Aside from switching of non-essential lights at 8.30pm on Saturday 31 March 2012, here are a few more ideas:

• Register your commitment by signing up at www.earthhour.org
• Announce Earth Hour at religious and community gatherings
• Organise special activities and events for Earth hour such as a candlelit vigil.
• Display Earth Hour posters in places of worship and other buildings (promotional materials are available for free on the Earth Hour website)
• Include a link to the Earth hour website on your homepage or host an Earth Hour banner on your website.
• Include the Earth Hour logo on monthly newsletters to group members, on letterheads etc.

The Earth Hour website also provides a platform for you to tell the world what actions your religious organisation is taking to contribute to global environmental change.

SAFCEI believes that as people with faith we need to care for the environment. Go beyond Earth Hour and commit to reducing the impact your congregation is making on the environment. Become a SAFCEI eco-congregation!