Student Engagement in Climate Justice
Climate Action and Mitigation Sustainability Initiative in Yola, Nigeria
Where Pastor Shede Habila lives in Nigeria, 90% of the population are small-scale farmers. Deforestation of land for agriculture combined with severe climate change-induced downpours has led to erosion and flooding which threaten the livelihood of the entire community. For his Sacred Action Project for the Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith, Pastor Habila launched The CAMSI (Climate Action and Mitigation Sustainability Initiative) Project. This initiative is designed to inform the local community of the long-term impacts of deforestation and start planting trees as a community in order to combat erosion.
Community Organizing Project: Protagonists of Transformation
When Pope Francis charged young adults in the Catholic Church to “be protagonists of transformation”, Anna Robertson took note. Until July of 2022, Anna served as the first Director of Youth and Young Adult Mobilization at Catholic Climate Covenant and recently completed the Community Organizing for Climate Justice as Love in Action training. For her final project, Anna designed the Common Home Corps, a cohort-based mentorship program to build a youth movement for climate justice within the Catholic Church
Sacred Action Project: Climate Conversations in Maryland
For his Sacred Action Project for the Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith, Larry Ryan set out to help congregations throughout his synod start conversations around climate justice. As a member of the ELCA Maryland-Delaware Synod’s Creation Care Team, Larry was interested in hearing from synod members about their thoughts on creation care. To gather their input, Larry led small group conversations with four congregations via zoom where 26 participants discussed the church’s role in creation care, shared their visions for how the church could be more engaged, and voiced their concerns about the future.
Shut Down Red Hill in Hawai’i
During World War II, the U.S. Navy built a fuel storage facility into a hill in the Kapūkakī (Red Hill) area on Oʻahu, near Pearl Harbor, in order to save these fuel reserves from aerial attack. Nearly 80 years later, fifteen of these tanks are still in operation directly above one of O’ahu’s main freshwater aquifers.
Since 2014, more than 55,000 gallons of fuel from these tanks have leaked into the surrounding ground and groundwater.
Sacred Action Project: Speech into Action in Zimbabwe
Everywhere you look in Zimbabwe, you are reminded of the climate crisis. From shrinking lakes to parched farms to electricity shortages caused by low water flow, everyone is impacted by a devastating, climate change-induced drought. In a nation where an estimated 40% of the population lives below the poverty line (less than $1.90 per person per day), these impacts are especially hard hitting.
