The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines is redoubling its efforts to run an environmental protection campaign that will make a positive impact. At a Monday press conference, CBCP President Bishop Pablo Virgilio David listed a number of initiatives and policies that the CBCP will follow to this end.
He began by announcing that the CBCP will become a co-signatory of a joint letter with other religious leaders of the Philippines. The letter is expected to propose the initiation of a “Feast of Creation,” which would be celebrated with neighboring Christian churches.
In addition, Vatican News reports, the CBCP has renewed its commitment to divest in fossil fuels. This would involve pulling investments from financial institutions that remain engaged in “environmentally destructive businesses.” An example of such a business would be those involved in extractive mining, but the bishops said it would also include all industries that it considers “anti-life.” The move away from such investments is expected to have been completed by 2025.
At the presser, Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, vice-president of Caritas Philippines, explained that this policy of divestment will extend to banks that continue to give loans to “anti-life” businesses. To this end, the CBCP has been producing an annual “scorecard” that identifies financial institutions that continue to invest in businesses that are harmful to the environment, which it has made public for the last three years.
Bishop Alminaza went on to note that the bishops have used their positions as investors, and in some cases shareholders, to open a dialog with these banks in order to sway their policies. The CBCP has vowed to pull all investments from banks that are not making a concerted effort to drop fossil fuels.
Furthermore, the bishops pledged to reject donations from individuals or companies that are involved in practices that are harmful to the environment. Bishop David even went so far as to call on the faithful to report any bishop or diocese that accepted donations from such a source to the bishop’s conference.
While the Church in the Philippines will not fund endeavors that are destructive to the environment, Fr. Manuel T. Catral, the incoming Pastoral Programs Director of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao, noted that there is still much it can do for those in poor communities that have been affected by such enterprises.
Along with pulling investments, the CBCP endorsed the “10 million solar rooftops challenge,” which will promote the use of solar power in Filipino households.
This approach is said to be more sustainable than “corporate solar farms,” which can affect food availability by taking up fertile ground.
Read more about the CBCP’s plans to protect the environment at Vatican News.
