December 5, 2007

GENEVA – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is appealing to religious leaders to play their essential role in building the requisite "community commitment and political will" for fundamental behavioral shifts with regard to climate change.

In a statement issued today on the occasion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in Bali, Indonesia, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko reiterates that the dimensions of the climate crisis transcend politics and call for "engagement at the most fundamental ethical level."

The 3-14 December meeting attended by representatives of over 180 countries and observers from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations is expected to result in negotiations on a climate change deal after 2012, the year the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires. The first phase is aimed at reducing greenhouse gases that lead to climate change.

Noko urges the Bali conference to take concrete steps toward consensus on the necessary steps including "radical and far-reaching" actions if the trends already underway are to be stabilized and reversed.

He notes that global average surface temperature could still be limited to a sub-catastrophic increase of 2° C above the pre-industrial level, "but only if global greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by at least 30% of the 1990 level by 2020 and 80% by 2050."

Referring to an LWF statement at the time of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize award to former US Vice President Al Gore and the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Noko underlines the need to recognize the common respect for creation as a basis for interfaith cooperation to protect and preserve the earth and assure sustainable life for all.

He stresses the contribution of indigenous people "in relating to and living in God's creation" and calls attention to their environmental wisdom with regard to climate change and the necessary responses.

"As a global communion of churches, we are called to take concerted actions that will be effective in mitigating the impacts of climate change, especially on the poorest and most vulnerable communities," he adds.

The full text of the LWF statement on the climate change conference is available in PDF version on the LWF Web site at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF_Statement_on_Bali_Conference.pdf.

Lutheran World Information