Week Four: Climate Theologies

With Pope Francis’ visit to the United States this week and his message of care for all people, I have been thinking a lot about why climate change is affecting the world’s poorest people first. I have read and heard a lot about how it is affecting them but I have been able to really grasp the why. Why is it that those with the least amount of resources will face the realities of climate change first?

I found some answers after reading Derek Larson’s article ‘Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home’ in the most recent issue of the Abbey Banner magazine (link below) and after an early morning conversation with him. In his article he talks about the ‘disproportionate consumption of resources’ and the ‘tremendous gap between the world’s rich and poor countries’ which results in human suffering but that ‘most of us remain blissfully unaware of the short-term impacts’ of our habits. He goes on to say ‘those who suffer the first and most from climate change are the least equipped to deal with the challenges on their own.’ But he never really got into the why. So one morning when we were both in our offices earlier than we should have been, I asked him why that is the case.

His take on it is that those with more resources are better able to ‘insulate’ themselves from changes in climate, mostly due to technology and wealth. We have the means to turn on the air conditioning, turn up the heater, buy our food in grocery stores, buy bottled water, and even have the means to move if necessary. Please with few resources are less insulated from the climate and their livelihood depends on things like the predictability of monsoon rains, the availability of potable water or the current sea level. When those things change, they have fewer resources to begin with to adjust to those changes.

If that is the case, I think that those with the means to live comfortably despite of the changing climate need to be more connected to the natural world. If we are more connected, we are then more able to feel the effects of a changing climate and it would motivate us to change our behaviors more, even if we are able to insulate ourselves. As Derek says ‘we must educate those with access to greater resources on their responsibility to care for their fellows as they steward creation.’ For it is our actions that have the greatest impact on the planet in the first place and we must stop insulating ourselves from the effects.

http://issuu.com/sjabbey/docs/ab_fall_2015_7136c86cd1b5fc/1