News Items

The Forum regularly posts news articles of interest here from a variety of sources and news outlets. You can check back here or view the most recent ones from the homepage. We also archive these articles here, for those doing research, with news going back to 2006. Use the menu on the right to explore the archived articles.

News

Irish bishops announce divestment from fossil fuels ahead of the pope's visit

August 25, 2018
By Christine A. Scheller
Religion News Service

DUBLIN (RNS) — Hours before the arrival of Pope Francis, the world’s leading champion of the environment, the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference announced it would divest from fossil fuels.

Green Hajj takes roots in Mecca: How devouts are working to reduce carbon footprints

August 24, 2018
Diligent Media Corporation

Thousands of cleaners are busy separating plastic from other rubbish as more than two million Muslims wrap up a pilgrimage to Mecca that presents a huge environmental challenge for Saudi Arabia.

The Mamuniya camp in Mina near the holy city is dotted with colour-coded barrels – black for organic waste and blue for cans and plastics...

Catholic institutions commit to climate action

They’re speaking out in support of the Paris Agreement.

By Erika Street Hopman
Yale Climate Connections
August 23, 2018

Listen to the audio version of this article here:

https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2018/08/catholic-institutions-commit-to-climate-...

In Sicily, A Plague of Cancer Overwhelms an Oil Refinery Town

August 23, 2018
Yale Environment 360

The winner of the 2018 Yale Environment 360 Video Contest examines how the people of Augusta, Sicily, led by the town’s priest, are fighting back against a cancer epidemic linked to a massive petrochemical complex.

Watch the video here:
...

Lessons Learned from Centuries of Indigenous Forest Management

August 20, 2018
By Richard Schiffman
Yale Environment 360

In an interview with Yale Environment 360, ecologist Charles M. Peters discusses how, in an era of runaway destruction of tropical forests, the centuries-old ecological understanding of indigenous woodland residents can help point the way to the restoration of damaged rainforests.

Indigenous Peoples' Right To Land Can Help In Achieving Conservation Goals

August 17, 2018
By Palash Sanyal
Science Trends

Indigenous people make up about five percent of the world’s population, residing in 70 countries with minimum or no management control over their land, resources, and lives. Even though the actual number is unknown for native populations, about 70% of the world’s population does not have a registered title to their land.

Clergy divided as Kenya moves to save forest, evict 40,000 settlers

August 16, 2018
By Frederick Nzwili, Religion News Service
National Catholic Reporter

NAIROBI, Kenya — When forest rangers arrived at Mau Forest Complex in June to evict thousands of illegal settlers, frightened villagers started moving out.

Villagers sought refuge at churches, schools and trading centers as smoke billowed from their homes, which were...

Should Rivers Have Rights? A Growing Movement Says It's About Time

August 14, 2018
By Jens Benöhr and Patrick J. Lynch
Yale Environment 360

Chile is a land of rivers. Along its narrow 3,000-mile length, thousands of rivers and wetlands bring freshwater and nutrients down from the Andes Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Together, these river systems drain 101 major watersheds that support both terrestrial and marine ecosystems, ranging from arid...

Ecology monks in Thailand seek to end environmental suffering

August 13, 2018
By Kiley Price
Mongabay

Ecological Justice Tour in North Carolina

By Peggy Whalen-Levitt, Director of the Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World
August 12-13, 2018

Just over a year ago, the Reverend William Barber II stepped down from his post as President of the North Carolina NAACP to lead a National Moral Revival in the spirit of Martin Luther King.  Barber’s Poor People’s Campaign brings together those with a longstanding...

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