LWF Youth Blog

The LWF Youth Pre-assembly and the General Assembly in Germany has come and gone. The outcomes from both assemblies were timely as they addressed issues that affect the world today. The LWF Youth message from Dresden highlighted the issue of sustainability, Gender Justice and the role of the Youth in the visibility of the LWF. These issues and many more also reflected in the resolutions, the message and the public statement of the LWF eleventh General Assembly in Stuttgart. Where we go from there?

Climate change was one of the major focuses of the LWF eleventh Assembly. There are many factors that cause climate change. Anthropogenic factors are human activities that change the environment. In some cases the chain of causality of human influence on the climate is direct and unambiguous (for example, the effects of irrigation on local humidity), while in other instances it is less clear. Various hypotheses for human-induced climate change have been argued for many years. Presently the scientific consensus on climate change is that human activity is very likely the cause for the rapid increase in global average temperatures over the past several decades. Consequently, the debate has largely shifted onto ways to reduce further human impact and to find ways to adapt to change that has already occurred.

Of most concern in these anthropogenic factors is the increase in CO₂ levels due to emissions from fossil fuel combustion, followed by aerosols (particulate matter in the atmosphere) and cement manufacture. Other factors, including land use, ozone depletion, animal agriculture and deforestation, are also of concern in the roles they play – both separately and in conjunction with other factors – in affecting climate, microclimate, and measures of climate variables

These past weeks has seen triple weather heat weather condition in most parts in the United States. The National Weather Service of the United States has issued several hot and humid weather messages for states like say Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, and New York etc. In Texas, it was hot and humid as high as 104 degrees.

The impact according to the National Weather Service is that the combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a situation in which heat illnesses are possible.

On August 2,2010, Government officials in Pakistan say as many as 2.5 Pakistanis have been affected by devastating flood after severe rainfall in the northern part of the country .The floods, causing by torrential monsoon rains, have left more than 1,100 dead and made many more thousands more homeless. The devastating effect of the flooding is still clear, with entire village thought to have been swept away.

These and many more are visible evidences that the world now than ever before should start to take concrete actions towards the liberation and restoration of our planet from total destruction. Where are we from Copenhagen? The destruction is continuing

 In Africa some rivers are drying up while others are causing floods, destroying crops, displacing and threatening lives of thousands of rural communities. Failing or erratic rains and prolonged droughts resulting in poor harvest are leading to conflicts.

If the secular world is dragging its feet to implement feasible actions towards saving the planet, the church should act and speak up louder. The young people have a role play. It starts with the self, the church and then the society at large. According to Bishop Kameeta in his Keynote address to the LWF Youth Pre-assembly in Dresden, he said” to change the way of living which is a result of the destruction of our planet, we need to start with our self here in Dresden, and in Stuttgart and in our Churches”. He further said “talking without action is in itself very much destructive”.