Fiji churches challenged to turn environmental teachings into action

Fiji’s churches are being asked to prove that teachings about creation can produce practical change as the country confronts a worsening waste management and environmental crisis.

Sepiuta Hala’api’api, general secretary of the Fiji Council of Churches, said the Season of Creation, observed from Sept. 1 to Oct. 4, should remind people of their duty to protect and care for the environment. For Pacific communities, she said, the relationship with the ocean makes that responsibility especially urgent.

Rising seas, changing coastlines, pollution and the displacement of communities are already affecting the region. Hala’api’api said people often turn to churches and religious leaders when they face environmental problems. She challenged them to ask: “If water and creation give us life, how are we giving life back to creation?”

The Vaka Forum, organized with the Pacific Recycling Foundation, is expected to produce practical and achievable commitments on recycling, waste management and environmental responsibility. Foundation founder and chief executive Amitesh Deo said the gathering must also address the stigma faced by people who work in waste and recycling.

Deo warned that sustainability should not become a box-ticking exercise controlled by corporate or political interests. He described the first Vaka Forum involving religious organizations as the start of a partnership focused on environmental responsibility, social justice and the dignity of workers in the recycling and waste sectors.

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If water and creation give us life, how are we giving life back to creation?