E tū te mana o Te Ao: Building a Climate of Hope

The Religious Diversity Centre (RDC) is pleased to announce the Climate Action Workgroup’s 2022 programme: E tū te mana o Te Ao: Building a Climate of Hope.

The RDC is a national centre that was established to foster understanding and respect for the religious diversity in our country. The Centre hosts an annual forum of religious leaders from across the diverse religions. One of the shared concerns the leaders named at their first meeting five years ago was the care of the environment.

Extreme weather events have become more frequent. The threat to our shoreline is greater than we had thought. People in our neighbouring Pacific nations already experience serious impacts of rising sea levels. Recent research shows that much of coastal New Zealand will also be under threat within the next few years.

As people of faith seeking to respond to the climate challenge, we draw comfort and insight from the rich traditions and teachings of our religious communities. They call us to act justly, tread gently on the Earth, and care for one another.

The 2022 Programme invites our diverse religions to support this call for each local religious community in Aotearoa New Zealand to take some action in the face of the Climate Crisis and to share their story on a dedicated website.

There are already programmes underway in religious communities, and the RDC intends this Programme to fully support them. By sharing our stories we will learn what is happening in different religious communities across the country and the stories and ideas will encourage us all. Planting trees, cleaning a stream, building a bicycle rack - every action - large or small - matters.

This Climate Action Workgroup invites each local religious community to send their climate action story, with a photo, to admin@rdc.org.nz so it can be loaded onto the Climate Action Group section on the RDC website. You’ll see some stories already on the website about the A Rocha Eco Church initiative featuring some of our local parishes.

Together we will make a difference! Together we will ‘Build a Climate of Hope: E tū te mana o Te Ao’.

We encourage you send in your stories and to download the poster below and display it in our churches. They are intended to raise our awareness and help us all to care for our world - together. More posters will be coming over the next few months.