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

Hindus urged to consider environment as they wash away sins

January 13, 2010
By Harmeet Shah Singh
CNN

New Delhi, India (CNN) – The small print in Tuesday’s full-page newspaper advertisements for a key Hindu event reflects one of India’s biggest worries – dirty water.

“Avoid using pollutants such as detergents and soaps in the holy Ganga,” reads one of the don’ts at the bottom of the government ad.

It comes as hundreds of...

Pope denounces failure to forge new climate treaty

January 11, 2010
By Nicole Winfield
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI denounced the failure of world leaders to agree to a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen last month, saying Monday that world peace depends on safeguarding God’s creation.

He issued the admonition in a speech to ambassadors accredited to the Vatican, an annual appointment during...

Boosting Biodiversity Can Boost Global Economy

Full title:

Boosting Biodiversity Can Boost Global Economy: 2010 is Litmus Test of International Community’s Resolve to Conserve and Enhance Planet’s Natural Assets

January 11, 2010
United Nations Environment Programme

UN’s International Year of Biodiversity Kicks Off in Berlin

Berlin/Nairobi - A new and more intelligent pact between humanity...

Churches urged to protect biodiversity in their churchyards

January 7, 2010
By Charlie Boyd
Christian Today

The Church of England is advising churches to protect biodiversity by managing rather than mowing their churchyards.

An estimated two thirds of the Church of England’s churches – around 10,000 – have churchyards, which collectively cover the space of a small national park.

David Shreeve, the Church of England’s...

Do we need to say our prayers?

January 5, 2010
By Greig Whitehead
BBC News

For millions of people in Africa, climate change is a reality, says Greig Whitehead. However, as he explains in this week’s Green Room, in religious nations such as Kenya, many believe that tackling global warming is beyond their control.

Kenya is a deeply religious country.

Shrinking religious orders take up land conservation

January 2, 2010
By Bridget MacDonald
Washington Post

Looking over the wooded parcel her Catholic order sold in 1992, Sister Chris Loughlin stood with arms folded, the regret on her face plain to see.

But Loughlin and her fellow Dominican sisters in Plainville, Mass., about 30 miles southwest of Boston, have more than made up for the loss of 10 acres from the former...

Lutherans Reflect on Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

December 31, 2009
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America News Service

CHICAGO – While many who attended or observed the proceedings of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this month expressed disappointment in the outcome, others saw the proceedings as an important first step in addressing the effects of climate change – which may lead to more effective...

Climate change and the providence of God: A Christian Science perspective

December 30, 2009
By Beverly Beddoes-Mills
Christian Science Monitor

Now that the representatives of 192 nations have met in Copenhagen to try to negotiate a treaty on curbing greenhouse-gas emissions, there is a great deal of pessimism about the outcome. Developing nations like India and China joined with others to block mandatory requirements that they felt were unfair,...

Nations Seal a Deal on Climate Change at UN Talks

December 19, 2009
UNEP

Copenhagen - After a marathon all night session, talks aimed at injecting new and more wide-ranging momentum into the international effort to combat climate change ended with a positive outcome.

Countries attending the UN climate convention’s summit in the Danish capital agreed to ‘take note’ of a document entitled the Copenhagen...

The Way Humanity Treats the Environment Influences the Way it Treats Itself

December 18, 2009
Vatican Radio

On Thursday Archbishop Celestino Migliore Apostolic Nuncio - Head of the Vatican’s Delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen - called for clear and firm political will to adopt common binding measures and adequate budgets for an effective mitigation of ongoing climate change. ...

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