The Parliament may be taking place on the other side of the world from Copenhagen, but Copenhagen is not very far from peoples’ minds. There are at least eight talks here with “climate change” in the title, more in the descriptions, and it is appearing as a persistent subtheme throughout the conference, from all traditions. Despite not having a voice on any of the Ecology panels, we Pagans are working it in too. The Community Night Pagan ritual hosted by Melbourne Reclaiming ended with an activist-style raising of energy for the healing of Mother Earth, “all the way through to Copenhagen!”

Sending our thoughts to Copenhagen - organized by the Brahma Kumaris

The conference’s focus on “hearing each other, healing the earth” and the inclusion of many indigenous communities is helping to facilitate this. It is the Indigenous Peoples of the world that will be – scratch that, ARE – the most effected by the changes.

“‘Warming’ is too soft a word,” noted Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs. “We should be calling it global heating. The ice is melting in the North, and we don’t have very much time.”

In the “Climate Change as a Concern for Justice” panel, Imam Afroz Ali noted that “individual responsibility is important, but not enough. Governments and corporations must also be responsible.”

In the “Religious Responses to the Ecological Crisis as Climate Change Grows” panel, Bishop Jeffrey Davies have called for a statement to be created to be sent to Copenhagen.

There is a common understanding that a paradigm shift is needed. Simplify, find value in relationships instead of things, and understand the Earth is sacred are common themes. Indigenous peoples emphasize the need to address the underlying structures of society that lead to the pervasive injustices against the environment. They point to a series of Papal Bulls known as the “Doctrine of Christian Discovery” as a good place to start. These Papal Bulls laid out the legal beginnings of the Western practice of taking land from Indigenous Peoples, which still goes on today under the guise of globalization. There is increasing interest from Parliament participants to call for the repudiation of this Doctrine by the Catholic Church, just as the Episcopal Church did in July 2009.

People have a lot they wish to tell the world leaders in Copenhagen!

In the November 2009 Mystic Lake Declaration by the Indigenous Peoples of North America, they call for language to be included in any agreements coming out of Copenhagen “that would ensure respect for the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples, including their rights to lands, territories, forests and resources to ensure their full and effective participation including free, prior and informed consent,” purposely echoing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The earth, air, fire, water, trees, birds, and sacred sites do not have rights of their own at this time. But in the Declaration, the Indigenous Peoples of the world are given a powerful tool for protecting the lands they have left and being a voice for the return to right relationship with Mother Earth. They are leading the charge with integrity and vision, exposing carbon trading for the hoax it is, and I for one hope they are successful.

My thoughts go out to all our brothers and sisters who are in Copenhagen now, Pagan, Indigenous, Activist, and all others working for real solutions to the crisis facing humanity. I hope they feel the energy we’re sending them.

copenhagen climatechange indigenous pagan interfaith