Global Catholic Climate Movement-Africa Moves to Save the Environment.

By; Jjunju Francis

08^th Nov 2020

The campaign to conserve the environment has not left out priests, who have launched an initiative under the Global Catholic Climate Movement-Africa (GCCM); to mobilize individuals, communities, institutions and the Catholic Church to ignite the fire against climate destruction.

Fr. Benedict Ayodi, a Franciscan Capuchin Priest from Kenya is spearheading this campaign as the Program Manager in Africa with a group of a few other self driven environmentalists who are building teams  to bring near the devastating effects of environmental degradation to people’s understanding.

Fr. Ayodi along with his team members while interfacing with the Uganda Episcopal Conference Secretary General, Msgr. John Baptist Kauta said that they are looking at four salient areas in this campaign;

1. Remind and Promote the Papal Encyclicals especially in areas of environmental protection.
2. Import aspects of ecological conservation by motivating Catholics through their faith to care about Mother Earth as St. Francis of Assisi called it.
3. Support and Encourage seminars on how society can reduce dependence on fossil fuels whose source of exploration and use greatly affects the environment.
4. Advocacy to help people understand concrete action about employing renewable energy that is safe to all.

They contend that fossil fuels emit the highest amounts of pollutants to the atmosphere greatly affecting lives besides getting depleted.

Fr. Ayodi along with other team members; Prince Papa the Program Coordinator for Africa and Edwine Mumbere the coordinator for citizens conserving from Kasese in south western Uganda; say in their ongoing campaign about environmental protection they want to awaken people on the ongoing environmental problems in Africa and more so in East Africa.

Increasing water levels in Lake Victoria that have affected settlements in Uganda and its surrounding countries, locusts invasion, unpredicted rain seasons leading to food shortage, Impending displacement of people due to the oil pipeline project that is to be constructed from Hoima in south western region of Uganda to Tanga in Tanzania, the Ogoni struggle in Nigeria, problems in DRC and the mineral exploration in South Africa are just a few of the challenges coming with over insistence on exploration of “natural resources” without a “Voice of Reason”.

Fr. Oyodi says in May 2020, they reached out to 28 Catholic institutions that were sensitized to embrace solar energy and work towards finding sponsors to support community needs in as far as using energy is concerned.

The Global Catholic Climate Movement – Africa; are using Catholic structures and Catholic Programs like Caritas, to rally societies and international partners to advocate for ethical investment and for the local people to think of alternative means of energy sources that are not disastrous to nature and the environment.

The regional offices for the Global Catholic Climate Movement – Africa (GCCM) are located in Kenya Nairobi, P.O. Box, 14413 Rafta road West Lands and can also be reached on their website; www.catholic climatemovt.global.