1. No category

www.cafod.org.uk
Creation and
Stewardship
A unit for post-16
General RE
Suitable for use with
NOCN framework
and Extended Project
…with a particular emphasis on
developing countries
Section One
Introduction – Creation: gift and responsibility
Section Two
Climate Change – causes, effects, responses
and case studies
Section Three Scripture, Catholic Social Teaching …and action!
Section Four
Evaluation and assignments
Unit: Creation and Stewardship
By the end of this unit you will:

have considered your own views on creation and its
stewardship

be familiar with scripture and Catholic Social Teaching
about stewardship of creation

understand what leading scientists say are the causes
of climate change, and have considered alternative
views

be able to give examples of how climate change affects
people in developing countries

have taken action to make a difference.
Treat the earth well – it is not inherited
from your parents, it is borrowed from
your children.
Kenyan proverb
Section One Creation: gift and responsibility
Look at this
photo in
silence for
one minute.
What
thoughts
does it
bring to
your mind?
What does Creation mean to you?
Here are some other people’s reactions.
There
are TOO
It’s
POLLUTION
many of us for the
that
bothers
me
planet to sustain
WE
CREATION?
look
Our planet is AMAZING
I’m worried about
BIODIVERSITY
Recycling
and how our actions are wiping
is the
out species
Not interested
have to
– I’m more of a
person! –
aftercity
creation
it’s our
responsibility
ANSWER!
GM crops are the answer
NUCLEAR power is the answer
What does Creation mean to you?
Scientists will come up with a
It’s TOO BIG TO THINK ABOUT –
what difference can I make?
to climate change
CLEVER SOLUTION
What do
NO POINT IN CUTTING CARBON EMISSIONS.
Other countriesChina’s
have growing
a rightcarbon
to industrial
emissions
will cancel out any good we do
development; WE’VE
NO RIGHT
to tellinthem
to stop
We can’t force people
the West
to emitting carbon
reduce their carbon footprint –
IT’S THEIR CHOICE
Climate change?
CREATION is ours to use any way we want
YOU
think
RUBBISH!
This is just a temperature cycle
What does Creation mean to you?
What is ‘stewardship’?
Take a moment to think. Write down your own definition.
Genesis 1:28 says
“
”
the conducting, supervising, or managing of
“ something ; especially : the careful and
…fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters of…
all the
living itcreatures
that move
on Earth.
Compare
with this dictionary
definition:
Some modern theologians say that the term ‘stewardship’,
developed from this language, implies that it is acceptable
to exploit the Earth
for humanity’s benefit.
responsible
management
of something
entrusted to one's care
What are your own views?
”
What do you think stewardship of creation should include?
Defining ‘stewardship’
Brainstorm one way that you believe
creation is not being well stewarded.
Think about both causes and effects.
Use a Problem Tree to stimulate your
thinking.
Loss of
work
Illness
Dirty air
Pollution
Write:
• the issue on the trunk
• immediate causes on shallow
roots
• deeper causes on deeper roots
• effects on the branches.
Poverty
and
hunger
Chemicals
emitted into
air/ flow into
rivers
Unregulated
industrialisation
For example, if your concern
were pollution, your tree might
include labels like these…
Problem Tree
Undrinkable
water
Crop pesticides
flowing into
streams
Heavy use of
non-organic
fertilisers
Poverty / lack of education
/ irresponsibility
Putting profit before people
The Church calls us to put the needs of the poor first:
“
The Gospel instructs us in the preferential
respect due to the poor and the special situation they
have in society: the more fortunate should renounce
some of their rights so as to place their goods more
generously at the service of others.
Octogesima Adveniens (A Call to Action), Pope Paul VI, 1971
”
Look at your Problem Tree again.
Have you considered how your chosen issue affects the poor?
Are there roots or branches that could be added to your tree?
Can you produce a
Solution Tree for
the same issue?
Keep your Problem and Solution
Trees. We will return to them
later in this unit.
Solution Tree
• What
Describe
howown
the experience
picture makes
you
is your
of the
feel.
awesome
beauty and power of the
• created
What doworld?
you imagine to be the story
of this picture?
Thank you, God,
The
picture
the effects of
for
the
gift ofshows
creation
drought
Kenya, where villagers say
and
all itsinbeauty.
that drought now occurs more often
and more
severely.
Teach
us how
to be
good stewards of
creation, so that
everyone can enjoy its
benefits.
Amen
Pause for reflection
Section Two
Climate change – causes, effects,
responses and case studies
The scale of the threat [of dangerous
“
climate change] to human life and to the natural
resources and assets on which it depends, for
everything from oxygen and clean water to healthy
soils and flood defence, means that this simply
must be our top priority.
”
David Miliband MP
Among all the concerns on stewardship of creation, should
climate change be our top priority?
Click the icon: An alternative view: http://youtu.be/YtevF4B4RtQ
Some still deny that climate change is happening. Who
might benefit, in the short-term, from promoting this view?
Do you have personal experience of the impact of climate
change?
Do you think climate change has affected the UK? If so, how?
Watch “Floods as torrential rain hits UK” at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18722054
How might the experiences of the people in the film have
differed if they had been living in a developing country?
It is not possible to say definitely that any one weather
event is due to climate change. However, scientists
agree that climate change will lead to more frequent
and more intense weather events.
So, how does climate change happen?
Climate change in the UK?
Heat from the sun
shines onto the Earth.
It passes through a
blanket of gases in
our atmosphere.
Some of the heat energy is
reflected back into space.
Some of the heat
energy gets absorbed
by the blanket of
‘greenhouse’ gases.
Human activities are creating
more greenhouse gases
including carbon dioxide, CO2.
As we burn more fossil
fuels, for example, the
blanket of greenhouse
gases becomes thicker.
More greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere mean that more
heat energy is absorbed.
This increase in the
temperature of the
earth, or ‘global
warming’, is what
causes climate change.
Since the industrial
revolution, levels of
CO2 in the
atmosphere have
risen dramatically.
This could lead to
rapid temperature
increases, to which
many species,
including humans,
are unlikely to be
able to adapt.
Source: Robert A. Rohde Global Warming Art project http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carbon_Dioxide_400kyr.png
Levels of CO2 in our atmosphere
© Copyright 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of
Michigan).
Territory size shows the proportion of total carbon dioxide emissions in 2000
that were directly from that territory.
Which parts of the world emitted the least CO2 in 2000?
How do you think the map may have changed since then?
Visit: www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=295 to view a population
map for comparison.
Carbon-emitting world map
“
“
“
“
“
The rains come
at the
Governments
have
this
wrong timesinnow
– like
it rained
in
opportunity
their
hands…
if they
January
for
fourimportant
days.
It’s
no usewho
to
can
give
incentives
to the
people
It’s
really
for
Weifbelieve
that
if at
farmers
the
rains
come
are
doing
the
right
things
for the
people
in
England
and
Wales
to
Our
ancestors
had
our forest times.
is lost Many
all lifehad
is also
lost.
unexpected
no
seeds
environment,
then
I
think
we
can
look
after
the they
environment
so
it I
right
– when
cut down
a
had
never
heard
about
climate
left
or
were
scared
to
plant
them.
begin
to have
create
a world
like the
one
that
we
fewer
disasters
here
tree
they
had
to
ask
the
earth...
change,
but if
it continues
we
could
Farmers
confused.
Who
knows
that are
we
were
given
at
the
in Nicaragua.
lose
this
forest.
Sánchez,
executive
director,
COMAL, Honduras
howTrinidad
many
days
these
wrong-time
beginning
of creation.
Maritza Manzanes,
22,
leader
of
an
emergency
response
brigade, Carbonal,
Ke Kachok, 84, Kroeng group leader, Cambodia
rains
will
last?
Miguel
Alonzo Nicaragua
Macías,
COMAL,
Honduras
”
”””
”
Charles Wangeneye,
Director of Caring for Environment for Development (CED), Kitui, Kenya
What can indigenous people and farmers in developing countries
teach us about climate change and caring for the Earth?
What do people in developing
countries say?
Focussing on just one region can
give us a deeper insight into how
climate change affects people in
developing countries.
CAFOD has been working with
partners in Latin America since
1980.
In recent years this work has
been greatly affected by climate
change.
We will look at examples of this in
El Salvador, Bolivia and Brazil.
Find out more about
CAFOD’s work
EL SALVADOR
BOLIVIA
BRAZIL
CAFOD in Latin America
In El Salvador in 2010, torrential rains
devastated crops, damaged roads and
flooded houses.
The corn and bean crops were
particularly affected. Much of the seed
rotted or was swept away. Some
families replanted three times.
Rosa Idalia’s house in Puentecitos was
flooded and she lost most of her crops.
Instead of the usual twenty sacks of
corn, her family harvested four sacks.
The tomato crop was completely ruined.
changes in climate are
“ These
becoming more normal but,
even so, we didn’t expect the
rains to be so fierce.
”
Rosa Idalia Rivera de Arévalo
El Salvador
CAFOD partner, JDS (Jesuit
Development Service), helped
the community in Puentecitos to
set up seed banks and worked
with them as they found ways to
restock the empty silos after the
floods.
These seed banks are essential
for planting next year’s crops.
JDS also supports a chickenrearing programme.
is talk of JDS buying an
“ There
egg incubator to help the
community breed chickens. I
am thinking of building
another chicken coop...
breeding chickens is my
greatest hope.
Rosa Idalia
”
El Salvador
Despite Bolivia’s rich resources of oil,
gas, zinc and tin, in rural areas nearly
three in five people still live in
extreme poverty.
About every five years, trade winds
change and warm ocean waters move
eastwards.
This is called El Niño and upsets
normal weather patterns (eg. causing
floods in Bolivia’s lowlands and
drought in the highland plains and
valleys in 2007 and 2008.)
El Niño may be made both more
frequent and severe by global
warming.
Rural communities have noted
changes in temperature since the
1970s and in rainfall over the last
fifteen years.
Bolivia
Extremes of climate are more
common, the growing season is
shorter, and higher temperatures are
leading to a change in some crops.
The glaciers that provide water to the
capital, La Paz, are predicted to
disappear by 2045.
Felipa Charque Chambi (72) lives in a
rural community called Villa Arbolitos:
I was a little girl, there
“ When
were a lot of natural springs here.
This area was very green, and
people used to bring their sheep,
llamas and cattle from other
villages to drink the water.
But now drought is causing real
problems and making things
tense with our neighbouring
community.
”
Bolivia
CAFOD partners work to
ensure that the poorest
and most excluded
Bolivians, particularly the
indigenous majority, have
a say in the policies that
affect them.
CAFOD has helped
indigenous farmers to set
up the Bolivia Climate
Change Platform to lobby
on climate change at
national and international
level. United, those most
affected by climate change
have a stronger voice.
Click the icon for the Declaration of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change.
http://www.forestpeoples.org/topics/un-framework-convention-climate-change-unfccc/publication/2011/declaration-indigenous-peoples
Bolivia
CAFOD supports Hutukara Yanomami
Association (HYA), an organisation of
the Yanomami, indigenous people
living a traditional way of life in the
Amazon rainforest.
The Yanomami lost 20 per cent of
their population during the late 1980s
and early 1990s when gold miners
polluted the rivers with mercury and
brought violence and illnesses against
which the Yanomami had no
immunity.
In 1992 the Brazilian government
finally agreed to protect the
Yanomami land. HYA campaigns and
lobbies to ensure that the Brazilian
government keeps its promises. But
now climate change is another threat.
Brazil
rain has changed. Now it rains
“ The
in the summer…
The life of the Yanomami people is
being affected - the destruction of
the forest has increased a lot, there
are lots of cracks in the earth.
We Indians are saying look at the
sky, it’s changing, the sun is
changing, the rain is changing. The
men in the cities, the industrialised
world, we want them to listen to us
and believe us for the future, see
the pollution, destruction, poverty,
illness. But they don’t see it. They
let it happen.
”
Davi Kopenawa, President, Hutukara Yanomami
Association
Click the icon. Davi talks about climate change and how it
affects his people. http://youtu.be/QO_Fd4AbNbU
Brazil
Climate Change
more frequent, more intense
weather events: hurricanes,
altered monsoons, etc
landslides
floods
melting
glaciers
droughts
melting
ice caps
rising river
levels
rising sea
levels
land losses
homes and
businesses
destroyed
water sources
contaminated
water shortages
crops destroyed
livestock
die
vulnerability, hunger, conflict, environmental refugees,
poverty
Is this outcome inevitable?
Create a climate change mind map with positive outcomes.
Effects of climate change in
developing countries
At the 1992 Earth Summit, 189 countries agreed to establish a Convention on Climate
Change.
Five years later the ‘Kyoto Protocol’ was signed, with legally binding emissions
reduction targets for 37 developed countries from 2008 until 2012. Some countries,
like the US, refused to sign.
In Bali, 2007 a timeline was set for producing a new agreement for the years after
2012 (after the Kyoto Protocol ends).
In Copenhagen in 2009 the US took part. However there was dispute between
countries, and the resulting statement – the Copenhagen Accord – was not legally
binding. It was “taken note of” rather than “adopted” by the countries present.
Click the icon for CAFOD’s perspective on how the outcome of the
most recent talks in Durban, 2011 will affect the world’s poor.
http://www.cafod.org.uk/News/Campaigning-news/Durban-talks-end
The next set of talks will be in Qatar, December 2012.
Suggest reasons why some developed countries refused to sign.
Should developed and developing countries have the same obligation to
reduce CO2 emissions? Why/ why not?
Who decides climate change rules?
“
As part of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, CAFOD is
campaigning
for: China and others must reduce their
Whilst
emissions, we in the developed world must not abdicate
our responsibility for the historic backlog of emissions
UK in
andthe
world
leaders to right
tacklenow
the root
thenew
problem
by
sitting
atmosphere
andof
the
damage
agreeing
global deal
cut carbon
emissions
at the United
wea continue
totowreak
on the
climate.
Nations
Instead of muddying the waters with bucklong-term
support
and
finance
for poorer
countries - not only
passing,
we
should
show
leadership.
to protect people from the impacts of climate change, but
alsoPeople’s
to help their
in aare
greener,
more
livescountries
in poor develop
countries
already
sustainable
devastated
by way.
climate change and it’s getting worse. We
need a climate change agreement with justice for the
poorest people at its heart.
Neil Thorns,
Head of Advocacy at CAFOD
What does CAFOD say?
”
Review what you have studied about the causes of
climate change and its effects on developing countries.
If you were a delegate at the international talks on
climate change, with a chance to address the assembly,
what would you recommend in your speech?
This is what some young people of the world wrote
about climate change:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/Two_Degrees_En.pdf
Pause for reflection
“The plight of the earth
demonstrates that…
materialism cannot be
allowed to drive out
responsibility and love…
care for those in need, and
respect for the rights of
future generations...”
The Call of Creation,
Catholic Bishops of England & Wales, 2002
Section Three
Scripture, Catholic Social
Teaching, …and action!
Look again at your Problem and
Solution Trees from earlier in this
unit.
Note any questions that they raise
for you with regard to religious
faith.
Keep these questions in mind as
we explore scripture and Catholic
Social Teaching.
If you attended a Catholic school, you will have studied Creation and
Stewardship in Key Stage 3.
Here is a quick reminder of what you would have been taught:
• Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to God.
• The creation story in Genesis is a theological, not a scientific, truth.
• Because God is infinitely good, creation reflects that goodness.
• God created humankind in God’s own image and likeness.
• Adam and Eve represent humankind, appointed as stewards of
creation, but rejecting original holiness.
• Yet God does not abandon creation, but loves and sustains it.
• In love, God sent Jesus so that everyone might have life to the full.
Revision
Read these quotations from the Bible:
took the man and settled
“ God
him in the garden of Eden to
cultivate and take care of it.
”
Genesis 2:15
Ever since God created the world
[God’s] everlasting power and deity
– however invisible – have been
there for the mind to see in the
things [God] has made.
Romans 1:20
“
Look at the birds in the sky. They
do not sow or reap or gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father
feeds them. Are you not worth
much more than they are?
Matthew 6:20
”
…the land belongs to me;
and you are only strangers
and guests of mine.
Leviticus 25:23
shall leave [the
“ …you
gleanings of your harvest] for
the poor and for the alien.
”
Leviticus 23:22
I establish my Covenant with
you, and with your descendants
after you; also with every living
creature to be found with you.
Genesis 9:9-10
How would you summarise in one
sentence (it can be long!) the Bible’s
teaching on creation and on its
stewardship by human beings?
What does scripture say?
Justice for the poor is a major theme in scripture. This is one example:
Speak, yourself, on behalf of the
“
dumb, on behalf of all the unwanted;
speak, yourself, pronounce a just
verdict, uphold the rights of the
poor, of the needy.
”
Proverbs 31:8-9
How might the above quotation change your response to the
previous slide?
Jot down any amendments to your response:
Click the icon for more scripture passages on this topic: Creation & Stewardship
http://www.cafod.org.uk/content/download/602/5766/file/Prayer_climate-environment_scripture-extracts.pdf
What does scripture say?
over inanimate and
“ …dominion
other living beings granted by
Read these quotations:
“ [We must be] committed to
the Creator is not absolute;
it is limited by concerns for
the quality of life of [one’s]
neighbour, including
generations to come;
it requires a religious respect
for the integrity of creation.
making joint decisions ‘…aimed at
strengthening that covenant
between human beings and the
environment, which should mirror
the creative love of God, from
whom we come and towards
whom we are journeying.’
Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 50
”
society cannot respond
“ Today’s
adequately to the duty
”
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2415
destined the earth and all
“ God
it contains for… all peoples so
connected with the responsibility
to protect the environment if it
does not seriously review its
lifestyle, its patterns of
consumption and production.
”
Archbishop Migliore, Speech to the U.N., 28 October 2008
Catholic Social Teaching
that all created things would
be shared fairly by all.
”
Pope Paul VI, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in
the Modern World, 69
What would you say are the
Church’s main concerns about
the stewardship of creation?
The Call of Creation is a document written by the Catholic Bishops
of England and Wales. It encouraged Catholics to voice their views
on the environment ahead of the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit
on Sustainable Development. Click the icon to read it.
http://www.cbcew.org.uk/document.doc?id=28
Read:
Section II- The impact on the world’s poor
Section IV- Human beings are dependent but responsible
Section V- Personal responsibility and conversion of life
What reason do the bishops cite in Section II for ‘People’s supply
running short’? What is your own opinion?
How is being created in the image of God both a gift and a
challenge? (Section IV)
If you were to fully live what the Bishops are saying in the
paragraph from Section V, how would your life be different?
Catholic Social Teaching
Individual choices can seem insignificant when faced
“ with
such global challenges. But multiplied individual
actions can indeed make a real difference.
CAFOD is the UK representative of the global”
Caritas
The Call of Creation
network, a federation of 170 international Catholic aid
agencies.
Click
the icon
see how Caritas
on behalf
of
How can
you
put toCatholic
Socialresponded
Teaching
into action?
the Catholic Church to Hurricane Mitch in Latin America.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kySK55SN_Ek&feature=channel_page
Click the icon to find out how to campaign with CAFOD
http://www.cafod.org.uk/Campaign
Decide on one action that you or your class will
take. There are more ideas in the next section of
this unit.
Catholic Social Teaching in action
Return to the questions you had at the start of this section.
How do scripture and Catholic Social Teaching
shed light on them?
Research any questions that remain unanswered.
Compare what the Catholic Church says about the
stewardship of creation with what you have learned about
international decisions on climate change.
In what ways does international stewardship of the
Earth conform to and differ from the ideals of the Bible
and of Catholic Social Teaching?
Plenary
“
““
At the end of the vast horizon,
we perceived mountains whose indistinct
Never
willescaped
I forgetus
the
contoursLife
would
have
hadofnot their
is not
a simple product
impression
the sea
madeby
upon
snowy
summits
made
visible
the sun
Laws and the randomness of matter,
me;
I one
couldn’t
myto
eyes off
come to
add
moretake
charm
beautiful
but
within
everything
and the
above,
it,
sincethrilled
its majesty,
the
roaring
lake,there
which
us so.
When
saw
is a personal
will,
thereI is
a all
of its waves,
everything
spoke
these beauties
very
profound
Spirit who
in Jesus
has thoughts
revealed came
to my
my soul.
soul of
God’s grandeur
to life in
I seemed
to understand
Himself
as Love.
and power.
already the grandeur
of God and the marvels
Benedict
XVI
of heaven… St.
I Pope
shall
remember
what my
Therese of Lisieux
eyes have seen today.
”
”
”
St. Therese of Lisieux
Pause for reflection
Section Four Evaluation and assignments
Think about what has been covered in this unit
What have I learned?
Where have I felt challenged?
What did I find exciting or interesting?
What was difficult to understand?
What would I like to find out more about?
Can I say ‘I am a steward of the earth’ and mean it?
Why/not?
What is God saying to me about my role in
stewardship of creation, now and in the future?
Evaluation
1. Research the causes and effects of climate change, using
the library, the internet, newspapers, and local experts.
Prepare a ten-minute talk for your class or for a younger class.
Your presentation should include:
•
introduction to the issue
•
where it occurs
•
who it affects and how
•
possible ways forward
•
at least two differing viewpoints on the issue
•
your own viewpoint (with reasons)
•
summary and conclusion.
TIPS
• Remember to use your own expertise too!
(eg. If you are studying English Literature you could take a
literary angle, if you are studying a Science you could research
the scientific viewpoints, etc.)
• Remember to include scripture and Catholic Social Teaching.
Assignment ideas
2. Write a 1,000 word essay:
Examine and assess the implications that Genesis 1:27 has
for Christians in terms of their treatment of Creation.
Hints!
• Think about how God treats Creation.
• Show that you have weighed up different sides of the
argument.
• Include relevant quotations from scripture and from Catholic
Social Teaching.
3. Organise action in your school or college to tackle climate change:
cafod.org.uk/Education/Secondary-schools/Climate-environment or catholicsocialteaching.org.uk
4. If your school or college is not yet an eco-school, write a plan of
action to help work towards this award.
Find out more at
www.eco-schools.org.uk/
Assignment ideas
5. Tell others about what you have learned: make sure everyone else
is as informed as you are about the effect of our decisions on people
in poor communities.
6. Organise a performance of the ‘Degrees of Change’ play about
climate change:
cafod.org.uk/Media/Files/Resources/Youth/Degrees-of-Change
7. Fundraise for poor communities affected by climate change:
cafod.org.uk/Fundraise/Guide-to-fundraising
8. Organise an exhibition of photographs, paintings or recycled
artefacts, alongside relevant information, to raise awareness of how
climate change affects developing countries.
9. Plan, design and set up a school allotment.
10. Use your artistic or IT skills to produce a piece of communication
to promote action for climate change in your school.
Assignment ideas
Publications
• Ellen Teague, Between the Flood and the Rainbow: Climate
Change and the Church’s Social Teaching, Missionary Society of
St. Columban, 2008
• Michael P.Hornsby-Smith, An Introduction to Catholic Social
Thought, CUP, 2002
• CAFOD, The Call of Creation Toolkit, Photocards, liturgy, stories
and reflections for adult workshops. From [email protected]
Weblinks
• Developing countries and climate change:
cafod.org.uk/Campaign/Get-clued-up/Climate-and-environment
• Becoming an eco-school: www.ecoschools.org.uk
• Sixth-form enrichment day or peer leadership on climate change:
cafod.org.uk/Media/Files/Resources/Secondary/resource-pages/ClimatePeer-Leadership-pack
Other useful resources
www.cafod.org.uk
cafod.org.uk
CAFOD is not responsible for the content of external websites
CAFOD is a member of Caritas International
Registered Charity No. 285776
Autumn 2009
Picture credits
Annie Bungeroth, Richard Wainwright,
Francesca Hoyle, Karen Luyckx, Marcella
Haddad, Philippe Mougin, Maria Marshall,
Luciano Padrão, sxc.hu.