‘Connecting the Dots’ webinar focuses on intersections between violent conflict, climate change and community well-being
by Darla Carter | Presbyterian News Service
The Rev. James Bhagwan, general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches (screenshot)
LOUISVILLE — Activists from two different parts of the world — Fiji and Ukraine — described some of the ways that environmental concerns, including fossil fuel consumption, are interwoven with war and displacement during the latest in the “Connecting the Dots” webinar series.
The Rev. James Bhagwan of Fiji and Dr. Svitlana Romanko of Ukraine were featured in “Connecting the Dots: Intersections Between Violent Conflict, Climate Change and Community Well-Being,” a webinar by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Militarism Working Group and Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.
Bhagwan is general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, an ecumenical organization based in the Oceania region, where the Pacific Islands and Australia are located. It’s a part of the world where rising oceans are a reminder of how fossil fuel emissions from one country, such as the United States, can potentially lead to negative consequences, such as climate-induced displacement and migration, in a place like Fiji.
“We have to recognize, and I think our role as Christians is very important, our integral relationship with the rest of Creation, and (be) looking for ways in which our development impacts well-being,” Bhagwan said. “In the Pacific, we call that the process of reweaving the ecological mat, you know, taking out those toxic strands that have been imposed on us by colonialism in the past and neocolonialism in the present.”
Dr. Svitlana Romanko, co-founder of the Stand with Ukraine campaign. She is a climate activist and strategist as well as a lawyer. (screenshot)
Fellow panelist Romanko is a climate activist and strategist who co-founded the Stand with Ukraine campaign, which increases awareness of Russia’s aggressive actions against her country, rallies support to end the conflict and draws connections between the war and the environment.
“This war machine has been funded, fed and fueled by the coal, oil and gas industries that are driving both the invasion that threatens Ukraine and the climate crisis that threatens humanity’s future,” the campaign states on its website.
Elaborating during the webinar, Romanko said that profits from those industries have enriched a few elites, assisting Russian President Vladimir Putin with his military buildup. She also said, “There is a clear correlation between Russian military spending and the revenues the country gets from fossil fuel exports.”
As a result of Russia’s recent aggression against Ukraine, millions of people have been displaced from their homes and thousands have been killed, said Romanko, who spoke of war atrocities, infrastructural and environmental damage, and massive explosions.
This has been “three hideous and horrific months for us as Ukrainians and for the world” because of this “unimaginable war,” she said.
Still, “we are fighting back, and we are trying to fight for our independence, for our sovereignty but also for breaking from fossil fuel addiction that feeds war in my country, conflict in other parts of the world, especially in the Global South, and also fuels injustice and inequality among those who are affected by our addiction to the fossil fuels,” she added.
Ukraine’s flag (Photo by Max Kukurudziak on Unsplash)
Promoting divestment, she said, “I believe that this is very important that everyone who is listening, institutions, health-care institutions … will divest themselves from fossil fuels” and instead favor green technologies, such as solar and wind energies “that don’t kill animals” or people.
Bhagwan’s region has experienced its share of military conflicts, including four to five coups between 1987 and 2009 in Fiji, and continues to be eyed by countries interested in expansion and resources.
“The Pacific is the final frontier when it comes to resource extraction,” he said.
Meanwhile, climate change continues to be a concern. For example, “as our smaller islands or our coral atolls within the region become inhospitable, we are already seeing communities relocating internally,” Bhagwan said. “Some have the option to move to their own land on higher ground, but there are many communities that do not have land to move to, and that will then add to the issue of external migration, or as we say, climate-induced displacement and migration.”
Other concerns in the region include the environmental impact of past nuclear testing by the United States and others, and deep-sea mining.
“The ocean is seen as an important resource as people move away to cleaner energies, and so when we’re talking about just transitions, we’re also trying to be very careful as to how natural resources are being developed to extract it,” Bhagwan said, “and our biggest concern at the moment is where deep-sea mining, or seabed mining, takes place under the context of finding resources for clean energy, and we are starting to see a lot more activity in our Pacific region.”
For more information on militarism and the “Connecting the Dots” webinar series, go here.
For information about the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)’s humanitarian response to the situation in Ukraine, go here.
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