Asian religious leaders to youth: Address climate change in an 'integrated holist way'
Religious youth leaders from various parts of Asia urged the youth to address climate change through an 'integrated holist way'.
“We must learn to work together as one community and there isn’t much time to waste,” Lilian Sison, secretary general of Religious for Peace Philippines, said in the 2016 Asia Religious Youth Peace Camp held at the UST Benavides Auditorium for its opening ceremony.
“The spiritual formation is very important if you really want to address climate change,” she added.
Sison also said different agreements such as Conference of Parties, Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Climate Conference are some of the procedures the UN had proposed in order to reduce the catastrophic effects of climate change.
Rev. Kyoichi Sugino, deputy secretary general of Religions for Peace International, said the aim of the peace camp is to raise awareness among youth on the impact of climate change. He claimed that the Philippines has been listed as the No. 1 country most affected by climate change.
Sugino called on the youth to protect the environment under the strategy of integrated approach. He emphasized the importance of youth as molders of the future destiny of humanity and through their help they can aid the protection of the environment.
The opening ceremony of this year’s Religious Youth Peace Camp with the theme ‘Responding to Marginalized Communities’ Vulnerability to Climate Change: Strengthening Common Actions and Empowering Asia-Pacific Interfaith Youth Leaders’ was hosted by UST.
The said event was organized by Asian Conference of Religions for Peace-Seoul Peace Education Center (ACRP-SPEC) and was participated by religious youth leaders representing 16 countries from Asia and the Pacific.
Previous camps were held in Seoul, South Korea (2014) and Phnom Penh, Cambodia (2015). This year’s camp was held in Manila, Philippines on Nov. 17 to 20.
Other key speakers were Rev. Kim Tae Sung, director of the ACRP-SPEC; Hadja Lourdes Mastura, president of Religions for Peace Philippines; Rev. Yongjoo Kim, president of Korea Conference of Religions for Peace; Rev. Yoshitaka Hatakeyama, secretary-general of Religions for Peace Asia; and Fr. Kwangjoon Kim, secretary-general of Korea Conference of Religions for Peace.###
