FOCUS ON: FEEM at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Roman Catholic Church, Rome – “Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity”. The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Development

Today, April 28, 2015, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Roman Catholic Church is holding a key Vatican meeting on global warming.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, opening the workshop, joined American economist Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the pope’s top representative on the environment, who helped write the first draft of the pope’s encyclical on global warming and the environment, which is scheduled to be released in June or July.

Entitled “Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity”, the event features scientists and world religious leaders, aiming to help strengthen the global consensus on the importance of climate change in the context of sustainable development.

Sabina Ratti, FEEM Executive Director, is honored to participate in this historical event, and represents today FEEM’s commitment to scientific research on climate change and sustainable development over the last 25 years.

Download the Final Declaration.

Read the article on the "Review of Environment, Energy and Economics" – Re3

Visit here the photostream of the event on Flickr.
[Notes : Where images are being used in any form of media publication kindly acknowledge images with wording of : GNNSJ Images.]

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Oggi 28 aprile 2015, la Pontificia Accademia delle Scienze ospita in Vaticano un importante evento internazionale sul cambiamento climatico.

Al workshop, aperto dal Segretario Generale delle Nazioni Unite Ban Ki-moon, partecipano l’economista americano Jeffrey Sachs, Direttore dell’UNSDN – UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network e autorevoli esponenti del Vaticano in campo ambientale, che hanno contribuito alla prima bozza dell’enciclica papale sul cambiamento climatico e l’ambiente, la cui pubblicazione è prevista fra i mesi di giugno e luglio.

All’evento intitolato “Protect The Earth, Dignify Humanity. The Moral Dimensions Of Climate Change And Sustainable Development” sono presenti scienziati e leader religiosi mondiali con l'obiettivo comune di contribuire a rafforzare il globale consenso in merito all’importanza del cambiamento climatico nel contesto di uno sviluppo sostenibile.

Sabina Ratti, Executive Director della FEEM, è onorata di poter partecipare a questo storico appuntamento, e rappresenta oggi l'impegno della FEEM nella ricerca scientifica nell'ambito dei cambiamenti climatici e dello sviluppo sostenibile condotta nel corso degli ultimi 25 anni.

Guarda l'album fotografico dell'evento pubblicato su Flickr.
[Nota per i Media: In caso di utilizzo delle immagini in altre forme di pubblicazioni si prega di riconoscere i crediti delle immagini con la formulazione "GNNSJ Immagini"]

Scarica la Dichiarazione Finale.

Leggi l'articolo sulla rivista "Review of Environment, Energy and Economics" – Re3.
 

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Links to the Press

• Final Declaration on Workshop on climate change (Source: Vatican Radio)
• The pope and climate change: a green wearing white? (Source: The Economist)
• Vatican and U.N. team up on climate change against sceptics (Source: Reuters)
• Vatican presses politicians on climate change (Source: BBC)
• Vatican Convenes Major Climate-Change Meeting (Source: Scientific American)
• Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches (Source: The Guardian) 

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The Event, 28 April 2015

Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity. The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Humanity

Workshop, 28 April 2015 – Organised by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, SDSN and Religions for Peace, the goal of this summit is to help strengthen the global consensus on the importance of climate change in the context of sustainable development. Global climate change adversely affects every aspect of our civilisation and thus should be a matter of serious concern across all world religions. Their effect on the poor is even more severe. We wish to elevate the importance of the moral dimensions of protecting the environment in advance of the Papal encyclical and to build a global movement to deal with climate change and sustainable development throughout 2015 and beyond.  

The desired outcome is a joint statement on the moral and religious imperative of dealing with climate change in the context of sustainable development, highlighting the intrinsic connection between respect for the environment and respect for people – especially the poor, the excluded, victims of human trafficking and modern slavery, children, and future generations.

Programme

10:30 – 11:00

Welcome by H.E. Msgr. Marcelo Sa´nchez Sorondo
Chancellor of the PAS

Opening addresses by
Ban Ki-moon
UN Secretary General

H.Em. Card. Peter Turkson
President, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

11:00 – 11:15

Brief statements by
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs
Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network

Dr. William Vendley
Secretary General of Religions for Peace

President Margaret Archer
Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences

Prof. Veerabhadran Ramanathan
Pontifical Academy of Sciences

11:20 Panel 1: Technical aspects
Evidence on social exclusion and climate science.

Moderator: Peter Raven
Panelists: Partha Dasgupta, John Schellnhuber, Martin Rees, V. Ramanathan, Peter Raven, Y.T. Lee, Paul Crutzen.

12:50 Lunch at Casina Pio IV

14:00 Panel 2: Justice and Responsibility
Leading representatives from the major religions.

Moderator: William Vendley
Panelists: Rabbi David Rosen, Olaf Tveit, Metropolitan Emmanuel, Din Syamsuddin, Swamiji Theertha, Kosho Niwano.

15:30 Panel 3: Practical aspects from local to global 
Proposed solutions and follow-up.

Moderator: Jeffrey Sachs
Panelists: Jeffrey Sachs, President Rafael Correa, Hans Vestberg, Laurence Tubiana, Cardinal John Onaiyekan

17:00 Panel 4: Eliminate Human Trafficking and Resettle its Victims: Next Steps Towards Sustainable Development

Moderator: Margaret Archer
Panelists: Margaret Archer, Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, Pierpaolo Donati, Stefano Zamagni
 

18:00 Discussion of joint statement

18:30 Reception and refreshments

Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei