The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs Asks: Are We Going to Announce an Environmental Emergency Plan?
Why is the climate crisis a societal crisis? What are the risks threatening human rights resulting from climate change? What is the importance of the Church’s participation and its fundamental role in presenting purposeful environmental ideas at various levels? Are we going to announce an environmental emergency plan?
These topics and other issues were discussed by the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs, before the 28th annual United Nations Conference on Climate Change COP28, which will be held in Dubai between 30 November and 12 December 2023.
This conference constitutes a global space that includes thousands of experts, analysts, journalists, experts in the field of the environment, and people concerned in Church affairs. The attendance will be special with the participation of Pope Francis, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).
In a media interview, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs confirmed that:
“This conference has important significations, especially after the increase in floods in some countries, as well as the dangerous pollution that threatens human life, hurricanes, disasters, drought, toxic gas emissions, waste accumulation, and global warming. All of these problems will be addressed by the conference especially that these risks have negative repercussions on Human rights, including the right to life, housing, food, and health. If we investigate the causes, we cannot count the amount of damage caused by human hands, nor can we imagine it, that’s why we are going today to announce an environmental emergency plan.”
Dr. Michel Abs added:
“Lifestyles have changed and people are living in a state of luxury far from humility, as well as in industrialized countries that refuse to sign agreements related to the environment because they consider it against their interests. Also, people who live on low-lying islands and in low-lying coastal population centers may be exposed to the danger of sea level rise, and to the changing weather conditions and other issues that forced the United Nations to pay attention to this topic so that future generations will not be harmed, because the most important question that must be asked is: are people aware of the danger of the consumption that they do?
He continued his word saying:
“The Church gives a great importance to this issue and is concerned with finding the correct frameworks that people should adopt with science, technology and health. More than that, the Church must emphasize that the environment is a Gift from the Creator. Think about the Creator who created you and gave you the land in which you live, noting that when a person deals with the earth, he deals with the Gift of the Creator.”