Author Archive
A chance to win two great prizes: KAIROS Climate Action Month
September 27, 2020
Download the 30-Day Challenge ACTION Card and track your actions throughout September. Share your completed Action Card or a post of you completing one of the actions, using the hashtags: #KAIROSClimateAction and #30DayKAIROSChallenge. All tagged post s will be put in a draw for great prizes at…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Putting our own house in order: faithful footprints
September 26, 2020
By Lucy Cummings, Faith & the Common Good Across the country, churches are doing their part to address the climate crisis by getting their houses in order and reducing their own carbon emissions. The United Church of Canada is committed to…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Global Day of Climate Action
September 25, 2020
Today is the Global Day of Climate Action. Following the immense response to the Global Climate Strike on September 27, 2019, Fridays For Future called for a global day of action that will see demonstrations take place across the globe….
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Spirit Bear and Children Make History Sept. 27 at 3 PM PDT
September 24, 2020
Suitable for all ages and important viewing for everyone, this event starts with a screening of the stop motion short that sees Michif animator Amanda Strong and Gitxsan child rights activist Cindy Blackstock adapt Spirit Bear’s books for the screen.Get…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Climate adaptation
September 24, 2020
Climate change adaptation refers to the actions taken to reduce the negative impacts of climate change that we are already experiencing. While actions to mitigate climate change through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are needed desperately, we cannot ignore that…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Orange Shirt Day is about changing the legacy
September 23, 2020
September 30 is Orange Shirt Day – a day to remember students who attended Indian Residential Schools in Canada. The day is inspired by Phyllis Webstad’s experience. On her first day at residential school in 1973, Phyllis was stripped of her new orange shirt, a shirt that…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Ecological devastation of the Niger Delta by oil extraction should be a concern to the whole world
September 23, 2020
Given the onset of nearly irreversible climate change, the irony is that many areas of the Global South where people have contributed substantially less to greenhouse gas emissions are comparatively more impacted. This inequality is linked to environmental racism and…
Post filed in: Africa, Ecological Justice
Sacrifice Zones
September 23, 2020
Given the onset of nearly irreversible climate change, the irony is that many areas of the Global South where people have contributed substantially less to greenhouse gas emissions are comparatively more impacted. This inequality is linked to environmental racism and…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
#ICantBreathe and Environmental Racism in Ecuador
September 23, 2020
The death of George Floyd in the US has once again demonstrated that racism plays a prominent role in the dominant system and that its violence and cruelty can reach unimaginable limits. The incident quickly led to a wave of…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights
Gender based impacts of resource extraction and climate change
September 22, 2020
In addition to its impacts on the climate, large-scale resource extraction disproportionately impacts women, perpetuates violence and puts at risk women who mobilize to protect the land and water from these projects. KAIROS works with partners in Canada and the…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
On International Day of Peace, KAIROS joins network in calling for Peace in South Sudan
September 21, 2020
KAIROS joins members of the Ecumenical Network South Sudan (ENSS) and partners of the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) in calling international attention to the urgent need for peace in South Sudan. The ENSS has released a statement on the International Day of Peace, September 21st which describes the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan and…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Climate-induced displacement
September 21, 2020
Global climate justice week begins with climate displacement. It is anticipated that by 2050, there will be 143 million people displaced by climate change. An estimated 37% of the global population lives in coastal communities, which are at significant risk…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Demanding climate action in the Speech from the Throne
September 20, 2020
On September 23, the federal government will deliver the Speech from the Throne. This is an essential moment for the federal government to announce its plans to scale up climate action and build resilience for Canadian communities and economies. This week, KAIROS joins hundreds of organizations and individuals sending messages to Prime…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Intro to Global Climate Justice Week
September 20, 2020
This week, Climate Action Month looks at climate justice issues on a global scale. The impacts of climate change are not borne equally or fairly. “Climate change is happening now and to all of us. No country or community is…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
The Arctic – the Inuit
September 19, 2020
Today we look to the north to share the experiences of the Inuit, who are facing climate change most acutely. At the end of July, the last intact ice shelf in Canada collapsed. Located on the northwestern coast of Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, the Milne Ice Shelf…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
KAIROS signs Unity Statement calling on UN Human Rights Council to investigate rights violations in the Philippines
September 18, 2020
“We will bear witness, and we will keep watch.” This is the central message of the Unity Statement for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in the Philippines, signed by KAIROS and several international church organizations and institutions. This statement supports the recommendations of the United Nations High Commissioner…
Post filed in: Asia-Pacific
Indigenous youth
September 18, 2020
There are some incredible Indigenous youth rising up and using their voices to address the climate crisis. In 2018, Autumn Peltier, member of Wikwemikong Unceded First Nation on Manitoulin Island, stood before the UN General Assembly and told the world to “warrior up” and take a stand for the planet. Ta’Kaiya Blaney,…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Spirited Reflection: Love is the Revolution
September 17, 2020
This reflection is dedicated to the late Rev. Jim Kirkwood who modeled and lived a life of Revolutionary Love.During our weekly Wednesday morning staff meetings, my boss Rob Dalgleish often throws a fist in the air and emphatically and syllabically proclaims…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
Sovereign Seeds, food security & COVID 19
September 17, 2020
Across the world, Indigenous communities are steadily moving towards food sovereignty, in harmony with the reclamation and healing of seed rematriation. Today, we learn about this movement through the work of Sovereign Seeds, an Indigenous-led network dedicated to supporting Indigenous seed sovereignty and ancestral food relationships. Sovereign…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
KAIROS condemns surge in violence and massacres in Colombia
September 16, 2020
KAIROS joins several civil society organizations in Canada including human rights, labour, and church groups in supporting the Committee for Human Rights in Latin America’s (CDHAL) solidarity statement published earlier this week condemning the surge in violence and the massacres that have swept both urban and rural regions of Colombia in recent weeks. The intensification of violence in Colombia is…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights
Environmental racism
September 16, 2020
Environmental racism is the term for policies, practices, institutions, decisions, and laws that discriminate against communities where the majority of residents are Black, Indigenous, and people of colour by harming the air, land, water, biodiversity — or people’s ability to…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Indigenous women on the frontlines
September 15, 2020
Today Climate Action Month recognizes the crucial role that Indigenous women land and water defenders play for the environment and all who depend on it. Women land defenders speak up to defend the air, land and water and do so to protect their rights, the wellbeing of…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, September 14- 21.
September 15, 2020
Join us in educating, advocating, strengthening solidarity and praying for an end to the occupation and a just peace in Palestine and Israel.Through our joint work, we are also correcting injustice suffered, affirming the rights of the marginalized and oppressed,…
Post filed in: Middle East
UN Declaration and climate justice
September 14, 2020
Yesterday (September 13) marked the anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) in 2007. The UN Declaration protects collective rights that may not be addressed in other…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
National implementation of UNDRIP is more urgent than ever
September 13, 2020
Anniversary of the Global Adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the UN General Assembly 13 years ago, on September 13th 2007, as a global minimum standard to address widespread, severe, and systemic violations of the collective…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Introduction to Indigenous rights week
September 13, 2020
This week, Climate Action Month explores a critical pillar of climate justice: Indigenous rights. Honouring Indigenous rights means upholding Indigenous peoples’ title and sovereignty and the rights to self-determination and free, prior, and informed consent. We’ll explore how these rights…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
How do we get to net-zero?
September 12, 2020
In December 2019, the federal government made a commitment to develop a plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Net zero is achieved when we can significantly reduce our carbon emissions and any remaining emissions are completely offset by actions…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Indigenous curriculum key to Reconciliation in Canada
September 11, 2020
In 2018, KAIROS was encouraged by progress made by provincial and territorial governments in implementing the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada’s Call to Action 62.i (Education for Reconciliation). That year, Alberta received a grade of Excellent in “Public Commitment” and Good for “Implementation” from KAIROS’ Education for Reconciliation (E4R) Report Card. However, like others in civil society,…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
