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Sindisiwe Ndelu, a delegate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, moderated the 23 July 2010 public hearing on “Daily Bread, Climate Change and Food Security” during the Eleventh Assembly. © LWF/Erick Coll

23.07.2010

“God’s world is suffering”

Public hearing calls on action on climate change and food security

STUTTGART, Germany, 23 July 2010 – Addressing climate change is a kairos moment in the life of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) that calls for immediate action because “God’s world is suffering,” Prof. Dr Barbara Rossing, delegate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, told the Assembly. “God is calling us to hope and have life in the midst of this urgent issue.”

The call to action, from Rossing and from many other delegates at the LWF’s Eleventh Assembly, came today during a public hearing session on climate change and food security. A common theme throughout the presentations and testimonies focused on the need for urgent action and for this to be done in unity among members of the LWF.

“We will all be helped if we can see this as a communion issue,” said Rossing, who spoke of the need for visible action during the Assembly in the form of a motion that would impress upon member churches the urgency of climate change and “step up the focus.”

During the public hearing session, delegates heard testimonies on the impact of climate change and food security.

“Global warming is proceeding as predicted,” declared Dr Stefan Rahmstof, climatologist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who connected via web conference and shared stark statistics on the rapid pace of climate change.

“The first six months this year have been the hottest [temperature] the first half of the year has ever recorded,” he said. “And the last 18 months have been the hottest 18 months.”

Member churches heard not only how climate change impacts the environment, but also how this leads to human suffering around issues of food security, including disparity, division, poverty and violence.

“In the last century, there have been 28 mega droughts [in Northern Kenya], four of them in just the last decade,” said Rev. Halkano John Halahke, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya. These conditions have led to significant losses of livestock and, as a result, “many environmental livelihood consequences as people are just surviving to live.”

The lack of resources in the region has lead to violence and even death. “100 people have lost their lives as a result of fighting for resources,” said Halahke, noting that some have resorted to raiding in order to restock livestock lost to drought.

Amid the devastating consequences of climate change and food insecurity, several delegates spoke of finding hope through the response of member churches.

Ms Eszter Kalit, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary, told of how congregations within the church are working together, within their local communities and through the LWF, to provide opportunity for a new future for those affected by climate change.

Following major flooding in the region, an effect of climate change, the region has experienced widespread unemployment. “Work and school is something people can only start after they have had something to eat,” said Kalit, speaking about the catalyst for a project that resulted the building of an oven and founding of a bakery.

In return, the result of the actions has been two-fold, she said. “Food is produced, and a safe and legal livelihood is produced.”

“We have learned that much is possible,” said Michael Windfuhr, Human Rights Director of the Protestant agency Brot für die Welt (Bread for the World) and co-moderator of the public hearing, in summarizing the public hearing. While the effects and impacts of climate change are increasingly dangerous, Windfuhr noted there was a feeling among participants that the LWF must be involved in “encouraging communities and helping them become active,” so as to understand their critical role. It is important to act in solidarity, he said.

“The nature of God is challenging us, demanding us, and now it is our task to listen and ask what is our responsibility as individuals, as members churches and as a global organization as the LWF.” (625 words)

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