Integral Ecology: Prioritizing Collective Care for Creation

Most Rev. Gerardo Alminaza, D.D., of the Diocese of San Carlos shared last Wednesday, November 13, the CBCP’s National Laudato Si Program before a jam-packed room of participants from various groups (pastoral councils/urban poor/youth/academe/religious/civil society/LGUs)

With “Strengthening Collective Climate Action” as theme and goal, here are the highlights of Bishop Alminaza’s presentation shared by the Philippine Miserior Partnership Inc., the main organizer of that afternoon’s multisectoral conversation:

Black is the new color of the Philippines with the following challenges: Provinces/key cities with mining, 71; reclamations, seabed quarrying, dredging activities, 29; coal/fossil gas operations/terminals, 18; proposed nuclear plants/reactors, 12; waste management, 82.

Like the government, the Church has many Pastoral Statements (PS) but also not acted upon, like the 1988 CBCP PS entitled “What is happening to our beautiful land?”

The CBCP July 2024 Plenary Assembly sought to improve the implementation of its pastoral letters, particularly the pastoral letter of 2022, which resolved to: 1.) Withdraw their investments from banks “if the banks do not adopt explicit policies to move away from fossil fuels by 2025, 2.) Refuse donations from individuals and companies engaged in environmentally harmful activities, 3.) Celebrate the Feast of Creation with other Christian churches, and, 4.) Elevate Ecology Desk into an Integral Ecology Ministry in the dioceses.

With integral ecology, everything is interrelated.

Integral ecology brings together the environmental, human, economic, social, cultural, and everyday life ecologies as well as ethical principles including the common good, human rights, intergenerational justice, and the intrinsic value of nature.

“Strategies for a solution (to continuing complex but interrelated crises) demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.”

With care for creation as priority pastoral concern, the bishops decided to upgrade their diocesan ecology desks to a full ministry focused on ‘integral ecology’.

However, as of 2024, only 42 of 86 dioceses have ecology ministries/desks and of these, only 29 are functional (with actual programs, structure (staff and volunteers), funding, and support from bishops/and clergy.

Some concrete measures proposed included;

1.) Establish diocesan forests (13 dioceses have recorded ongoing forest initiatives while almost all dioceses are doing tree-planting activities, but without proper documentation);

2.) Promote use of renewable energy and other sustainable systems in own facilities/communities --support/endorse/implement the 10 million solar rooftops in church facilities. (The diocese of Maasin was named by Vatican as the first fully-solarized diocese by the Vatican);

3.) Strengthen/participate in the National Laudato Si Program, where representatives of dioceses/faith-based communities/civil society can work together in national/sub-regional levels;

4.) Implement education/information campaigns on the Rights of Nature and Integral Ecology;

5.) Intensify existing efforts to establish schools with Laudato Si framework/guidance where civil society/faith-based organizations/academe led by the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines work in synergy;

6.) Publicly release a statement disallowing the use of plastics (especially single-use plastics) in the dioceses, implement a solid waste management plan across all national/diocesan offices, conduct green audit to have baseline data on waste volume of churches/dioceses/offices, and provide action points to implement solid waste management plans;

7.) Call on the national government/line agencies to respect/support the LGUs environmental code, especially those that ban destructive extractive, polluting projects;

8.) Demand transparency/genuine stakeholder involvement from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples in all decisions made relative to ecologically/socially hazardous endeavors including mining, logging, construction/operation of infrastructure and energy or other industrial facilities, and others;

9.) Establish coordination and dialogue platforms with local government units for eco-governance initiatives and programs; and,

10.) Call for the protection of environmental defenders and push for local and national policies that will turn the nation into a ‘sanctuary’ for both the environment and its defenders.