Faith groups unite for Canadian climate advocacy campaign

Press Release

For the Love of Creation’s faith-in-action campaign will run until October 2021

Unceded Algonquin Territory [Ottawa, ON]: February 17, 2021—A coalition of 35 Canadian churches and faith-based organizations have come together for an unprecedented, months-long campaign of personal environmental action coupled with federal climate advocacy.

For the Love of Creation’s faith-in-action campaign mobilizes people of faith from across Canada to reduce household greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and demonstrate their support for increased federal climate action. Local organizers are bringing the national campaign to their faith communities encouraging individuals to take action.

The campaign runs from February 17 (Ash Wednesday) to October 4, 2021 (the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi and the end of the Season of Creation). It also includes a public witness event on April 22, Earth Day.

Individuals will commit to taking action to reduce their own GHG emissions and engage in acts of solidarity with justice-seeking communities. They will also write to federal Cabinet Ministers to call on the Government of Canada to:

• Increase Canada’s national GHG emissions reduction target;
• Invest in a just transition to a fair, inclusive, green economy;
• Implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including, but not limited to, the right of free, prior and informed consent;
• Commit equal support for climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in the Global South.

This campaign is modelled on Give it up for the Earth!, a campaign from Citizens for Public Justice which ran every year during Lent from 2017 to 2020. This new campaign operates much like Give it up for the Earth!, but will take place mostly online.

QUOTES:

“In this strange time of separation and isolation for the common good, we have become acutely aware of the value of community and connectedness. That is why it is so exciting to have the For the Love of Creation initiative embrace what was CPJ’s flagship climate justice campaign. The climate emergency demands urgent action and we know that our voices are stronger and louder together.”

—Karri Munn-Venn, Senior Policy Analyst, Citizens for Public Justice

“We are in a critical decade for climate action. By taking measures personally to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, people of faith are signalling to their leaders that we are committed to a just transition and support them in taking bold steps to address the climate crisis.”

—Lori Ransom, Interim Executive Director, KAIROS Canada

“During the pandemic lockdowns we have seen the resiliency of creation begin to recover from damage human activity can cause. There is time for us to change the trajectory of that damage—if we will pay attention. For the Love of Creation lets us pay attention now.”

—The Most Rev. Linda Nicholls, Archbishop and Primate, The Anglican Church of Canada

“Addressing the climate crisis requires concerted coordinated action on several fronts. The For the Love of Creation faith-in-action campaign, combined with its faithful climate conversations and theological reflection, presents an incredible opportunity for us all to act together. Now’s the moment.”

—Rev. Michael Blair, General Secretary, The United Church of Canada/L’Eglise Unie du Canada

“The intersecting crises of health, climate change and racial and economic inequities are all encompassed in this visionary faith-in-action campaign of collaborating churches. Oblates are proud to engage our communities across Canada For the Love of Creation.”

—Joe Gunn, Executive Director, Centre Oblat – A Voice for Justice

Media Contact:

Brad Wassink (he/him), Communications Coordinator, Citizens for Public Justice, 613-232-0275 / 1-800-667-8046 x 225, brad@cpj.ca

Cheryl McNamara (she/her), Media and Advocacy Coordinator, KAIROS Canada, 416-875-0097 (mobile), cmcnamara@kairoscanada.org

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