The archbishop of Westminster is affirming that helping the poorest persons should be at the center of the climate change debate. Archbishop Vincent Nichols said this Saturday at a “Time to Pray” ecumenical service regarding the environment and climate change.
The service, which featured addresses by various Christian leaders, was planned in conjunction with “The Wave,” a demonstration in central London aimed at drawing attention to climate change issues prior to the U.N. Copenhagen summit.
Representatives of some 190 countries have just gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark, for a two-week conference to seek a global pact on climate change.
Archbishop Nichols addressed the topic by expressing concern for “all those whose lives are directly affected by climate change, the world’s poorest and the most disadvantaged.”
“This is an important perspective which we must not lose in the midst of all the other concerns expressed in recent weeks,” he stated.
“We know that issues of world poverty and development cannot be separated from concerns for the environment,” the prelate said. “They are intimately connected.”
LONDON, DEC. 8, 2009 (Zenit.org)