MANILA, Philippines — The Center for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED) praised the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for promising to divest its assets from “dirty energy” such as coal.
“The moral leadership of the Church lends great weight to our cause for a coal-free Philippines. No amount of short-term profit justifies the long-term compromise of the health of our people and the Earth’s climate,” said CEED executive director Gerry Arances in a recent statement.
CEED said the Philippines is among countries most vulnerable to climate change, yet it is one of the few in the world where investment in coal continues to rise.
In 2015, the Vatican published “Laudatu Si,”an encyclical subtitled “On care for a common home” that states global warming is a symptom of the world in pursuit of short-term economic gains at the expense of the planet.
Bishops from other countries such as Belgium, Ireland and Australia have already pulled out their investments in coal companies.
CBCP-National Secretariat for Social Action executive secretary Fr. Edu Gariguez said during the recently concluded 119th CBCP plenary assembly that the prelates vowed to divest from coal and would instead invest in renewable energy.
At least four bishops said they were willing to pull out their investments from coal.
“I told the bishops, we need to come up with a pastoral letter but it should be accompanied by action points because we need to walk the talk. We need to do concrete actions in response to the pope’s challenge,” Gariguez said.