Lent 2017

JUST WATER: Climate Change

in the PacificThis module contains:

• Background information

• First Week of Lent lessons and worksheets

• Holy Week lessons (on the last two pages of this module)

Refer to the Teacher Booklet and other country modules for more information in this series.

LENTMODULE

“Lent is a favourable season for opening the doors to all those in need and recognising in them the face of Christ. Each of us meets people like this every day. Each life that we encounter is a gift deserving acceptance, respect and love. … Lent is the favourable season for renewing our encounter with Christ, living in his word, in the sacraments and in our neighbour. I encourage all the faithful to express this spiritual renewal also by sharing in the Lenten Campaigns … and thus to favour the culture of encounter in our one human family.”

Pope Francis Lenten Message 2017

Introduction

We have chosen the subtitle ‘Just Water’ for this schools’ resource, because many of the difficulties currently facing the peoples of the Pacific because of climate change involve water; either too much, or not enough!

People living in parts of Tonga, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea, are having to contend with TOO MUCH sea water, causing coastal erosion and inundation of land during king tides. At the same time there is NOT ENOUGH fresh water to drink, as their ground water is becoming contaminated by salt water.

Island groups such as Fiji and Vanuatu are facing TOO MUCH water in the form of rain, and sea surges following fierce storms. Cyclones also lead to contamination of fresh water supplies, caused by debris from the storm falling into wells and water tanks.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, West Coasters face TOO MUCH flood water, while on the east coast and in the far north there is NOT ENOUGH water, with longer and longer droughts being experienced.

The phrase ‘Just Water’ also refers to the position of the Catholic Church. We believe that access to sufficient, safe, fresh water is a human right and a matter of social justice.

Caritas Pacific Environment ReportsSince 2014, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has been researching and publishing grass-roots stories about the effects of climate change in the Pacific. Caritas is concerned that the ‘small, yet strong’ voices of the Pacific peoples are heard, and that the accurate telling of their stories helps to inform the response of policy-makers and ordinary people in the Oceania region, as we work together to protect and enhance our common home.

The 2016 report is entitled, Hungry for justice, thirsty for change: Caritas State of the Environment Report For Oceania. It includes chapters on coastal erosion, flooding and rising seas, extreme weather, and environmental factors affecting peoples’ access to safe, healthy food and drinking water.

The opening paragraph of the first chapter has a sobering message.

There has been widespread hunger and thirst across the Oceania region in the past 12 months. The most significant change from Caritas’ 2015 report on the Ocean environment is the reduction of Pacific Islanders’ access to nutritious food and safe drinking water. In 2015/2016, food and water shortages caused hardship, illness, malnutrition and even death to vulnerable people. The causes include severe

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

drought, cyclones, damage to land and marine ecosystems, and overuse of natural resources. The lack of adequate and nutritious food and safe water also impacted health and children’s access to education. Those most affected included those most marginalised: indigenous peoples, isolated rural communities, women and children.

Many of the stories that are central to the lessons in these modules link with the voices that are found in Caritas’ Pacific environment reports over the last few years. An icon of the relevant report can be found on the story and video summary pages along with the page reference where more information can be found.

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops on Environmental IssuesIn 2006, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference put out their Statement on Environmental Issues. In it they highlight several of the principles that should guide us when considering our own response to the issues of climate change and environmental degradation. Some of the key statements in this document are outlined below.

Science and technology have brought many blessings to human existence. Over the last fifty years those blessings have included a greater capacity to meet basic human needs. But the benefits of these advances have been spread unjustly, often with an adverse effect upon the world’s most vulnerable populations.

This Catholic social teaching principle of the Universal Destination of Goods stipulates that all people, regardless of country of origin or socio-economic background, should have equal access to those goods which are necessary for human life and well-being. Fresh water, adequate nutrition, and a place to live and earn a living, are some of the goods that we all have a right to. In pursuing greater technological and scientific advancement, some nations have overlooked the way in which their actions are having an adverse effect on others. This is precisely the case when we look at the way in which industrialized nations have contributed to climate change. In our attempts to drive increased manufacturing and production, we have increased our energy consumption and pumped more and more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We now see that the impacts of our increased energy consumption are falling on those who are more vulnerable to climactic changes.

As in other parts of the world, those most suffering the consequences of climate change are those who have played the least part in contributing to it. People we may never meet, as well as those who are not yet born, will benefit or suffer as a result of the decisions we make and take in New Zealand and in the rest of the developed world.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Further on in their statement, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops make a strong plea for all of us to act unselfishly for the sake of the Common Good.

At the personal level the suffering of others and the damage to our planet demand that we look closely at our own lifestyles... both individual and collective acts of selflessness are needed – of self sacrifice for the greater good, of self denial in the midst of convenient choices, of choosing simpler lifestyles in the midst of consumer society.

Finally the Bishops remind us of our responsibility towards both the environment and to our more vulnerable brothers and sisters.

Our understanding that we are stewards of God’s creation, our solidarity with the poor, and our respect for the common good make the issue of environmental justice the responsibility of every person.

Pope Francis on ‘Just Water’The 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, is a clear contemporary statement, addressed to the ‘whole world’ on our responsibility towards the environment.

For more background information about Laudato Si’, read the section on Recent Church Teaching on Climate Change and the Environment in the Teacher Booklet.

We will simply note here the statments Pope Francis makes about justice and water. A large part of the first chapter of Laudato Si’ is dedicated entirely to the ‘issue of water’.

Fresh drinking water is an issue of primary importance, since it is indispensable for human life and for supporting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Sources of fresh water are necessary for health care, agriculture and industry. Water supplies used to be relatively constant, but now in many places demand exceeds the sustainable supply, with dramatic consequences in the short and long term...

...Water poverty especially affects Africa where large sectors of the population have no access to safe drinking water or experience droughts which impede agricultural production. Some countries have areas rich in water while others endure drastic scarcity.

Laudato Si’, #28

One particularly serious problem is the quality of water available to the poor. Every day, unsafe water results in many deaths and the spread of water-related diseases, including those caused by microorganisms and chemical substances. Dysentery and cholera, linked to inadequate hygiene and water supplies, are a significant cause of suffering and of infant mortality. Underground water sources in many places are threatened by the pollution produced in certain mining, farming and industrial activities, especially in countries lacking adequate regulation or controls.

Laudato Si’, #29

He goes on to say that greater scarcity of water will have an effect on other things that are important for life, such as the production of food. We are left in no doubt that the issue of safe and consistent access to fresh water, along with the other impacts of climate change, pose a major challenge for the world today.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #6The United Nations (UN) also sees universal fresh water access as a vital issue for our time. One of the seventeen sustainable development goals, which they are calling on all countries to meet by 2030, is to ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.’1

The UN predicts that by 2050, at least one in four people is likely to live in a country affected by chronic or recurring shortages of fresh water.

For more background information on access to water and the issue of climate change there are a set of Fact Sheets also available online at www.caritas.org.nz:

1 Facts and Figures about Water

2 Sustainable Development Goal #6

3 Remarkable and Alarming Facts About Water

4 Fresh Water in New Zealand

5 Climate Change and Fresh Water in New Zealand

6 The Royal Society of New Zealand on Climate Change

7 The Paris Agreement

8 Greenhouse Gases in New Zealand

9 New Zealand’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan

1 United Nations, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

What is Happening to our Weather?

LEARNING OUTCOMES • Understand that weather patterns and the world’s climate are changing• Decide on an action to undertake during Lent to help stop the pollution of our planet

BACKGROUND FOR TEACHERSThe Royal Society of New Zealand (a well-respected, independent scientific research organisation) put out a report in March 2016: Climate Change Implications for New Zealand. In this report they tell us that New Zealand is already beginning to see the effects of global warming. Northern and eastern areas of our country are getting drier, while western regions are getting wetter. We are also seeing an increase in extreme weather events such as tornadoes, droughts and floods. Some parts of coastal New Zealand are experiencing coastal erosion. If climate change continues at the current rate, these ‘rare’ extreme events are going to become increasingly common.

For more information refer to Fact Sheet 6: The Royal Society of New Zealand on Climate Change.

DISCUSSIONAsk the students the names of the four seasons of the year that we experience in Aotearoa New Zealand.

What are the words we use to describe what the weather is like in summer, spring, autumn and winter.

Teacher to share with the students changes they have noticed in their own lives relating to how hot summer was when they were children and how hot it is now, or how it used to be very unusual to have long periods without rain in New Zealand, but now, in some parts of the country, there is very little rain throughout the whole of summer.

Ask the students what might happen to land and farms if there is no rain.

Ask the students what might happen to land and farms and towns if there is too much rain.

Explain to the students that New Zealand weather patterns (called our climate) are changing.

Show students a map of New Zealand. In Northland, Hawkes Bay and Canterbury the weather is getting drier (especially in summer). In New Plymouth, Whanganui and the West Coast of the South Island the weather is getting wetter.

Ask the students if they have any ideas about why this might be happening.

VIEWWatch the climate change animation at www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8unGCTWUWI that lists the causes of climate change and provides some suggested solutions. It makes several references to living in the United Kingdom, but the messages are just as relevant to the New Zealand situation.

DISCUSSIONWhat reasons were given on the video to explain why the world’s climate is changing?

What is the gas that is causing the planet to get warmer?

What are the things that put carbon dioxide into the air/atmosphere?

What might we be able to do to cut down the amount of carbon dioxide that we put into the air/atmosphere?

VIEWShow students Poster W: Too Much Water and ask them to share what they think has happened in the photo. Read out the questions on the poster and allow the students some time to share their answers.

C2C1(Y1-4)FIRST WEEK OF LENT LESSON PLAN

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

ACTIVITYYear 1-2 students can complete Worksheet C1 and Year 3-4 students can complete Worksheet C2.

Pope Francis tells us that it is people in poorer countries who will have the most trouble because of climate change. In some countries people can’t grow enough food to eat because there isn’t enough rain.

Students are to colour in the picture of Pope Francis and choose one of the suggestions he makes about how they can help slow down climate change, and therefore help people who are suffering from its effects. They are then encouraged to remember to carry out this action throughout the six weeks of Lent. This year for Lent students can do something small that will help the environment and help others around the world.

PRAYERGo to the Climate Change Prayer Booklet for Lent at www.caritas.org.nz and read a junior prayer for the first week of Lent. During the prayer students place their worksheet with their chosen action on it around a candle or on a prayer table. These worksheets will stay in a particular place in the classroom throughout Lent so that the students can remember their chosen action.

You might also like to pin the Lent Calendar for 2017 near your prayer space. This contains several more ideas of actions students can undertake during Lent to help fight climate change.

FIRST WEEK OF LENT LESSON PLAN

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

What is Climate Change?

LEARNING OUTCOMES • Understand that human actions are affecting our climate• Choose an action to carry out during Lent to help reduce the air pollution that is causing climate

change

SETTING THE SCENEIn 2015, Pope Francis wrote the world a letter about the environment. It is called Laudato Si’. If your students don’t already know about this encyclical it would be worth watching an animated video about it on the Caritas website (see below under View).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS For more background about Laudato Si’, read the section on Recent Church Teaching on Climate Change and the Environment in the Teacher’s Booklet.

Fact Sheet 6: The Royal Society of New Zealand on Climate Change is also a helpful resource for teacher background reading.

VIEWWatch the Laudato Si’ animation for primary schools at www.caritas.org.nz/lent-2016-videos or go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOgF2Kgel6k.

BRAINSTORMAccording to this video, what are some of the things that human beings are doing to harm the earth?

What is one of the biggest challenges facing the human race?

Who are the people who are affected the most by climate change?

What are some simple, everday eco-actions that students can take to care for the earth?

VIEWWatch the Climate change animation at www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8unGCTWUWI that lists the causes of climate change and

provides some suggested solutions. It makes several references to living in the United Kingdom, but the messages are just as relevant to the New Zealand situation.

DISCUSSIONWhat is the scientific explanation given for climate change?

What is the main gas that causes the greenhouse effect?

What are fossil fuels? What are some of the things we use that burn fossil fuels?

Why are sea levels rising?

ACTIVITYGo to Worksheet C3/C4: Live Simply.

Read the quote from Pope Francis and list some of the countries that you think might be suffering a lot from the effects of climate change. Encourage students to think about island nations in the Pacific where coastal erosion is a major problem. We will learn more about these nations throughout Lent.

Think about the quote from the peace activist and social justice advocate, Mahatma Gandhi: ‘Live simply, so that others may simply live.’

Help students to identify ways that they can live more simply during Lent, so that poorer people on the planet may ‘simply live.’ Think back to the everyday eco-actions that were mentioned in the Laudato Si’ animation. The Caritas Lent calendar also has some good ideas. Encourage students to choose one action that they will undertake throughout Lent as a sign of their solidarity and concern for those who are suffering from the effects of climate change.

C4C3(Y5-8)FIRST WEEK OF LENT LESSON PLAN

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Then challenge your students to design a ‘low carbon’ town or city. There is a stimulus infographic from The Royal Society of New Zealand to assist them.

PRAYEROn Ash Wednesday have a class prayer time, using prayers from the Upper Primary pages in the Climate Change Prayer Booklet at www.caritas.org.nz.

During the prayer time, students are to place their ‘action pledge’ from the worksheet around a candle or on the prayer table.

You might also like to pin the Lent Calendar for 2017 near your prayer space. This contains several more ideas of actions students can undertake during Lent to help fight climate change.

FIRST WEEK OF LENT LESSON PLAN

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

(Y9-10)

Climate change and caring for creation

LEARNING OUTCOMES • Understand that the weight of scientific evidence indicates that the current rate of global

warming is caused by human actions • Explain the main message of the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si’

SETTING THE SCENEIn his 2015 encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis said...

A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system. In recent decades this warming has been accompanied by a constant rise in the sea level and, … by an increase of extreme weather events… Humanity is called to recognise the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming…

Laudato Si #23

Pope Francis also makes the point that climate change is having the greatest effect on the poorest people in the world who directly rely on the earth and sea to provide them with livelihoods.

For more background reading for teachers and students, go to the following online resources:

• Fact Sheet 6: The Royal Society of New Zealand and Climate Change

• Laudato Si’ animation for secondary schools at www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Lz7dmn1eM.

VIEWWatch the climate change animation at www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9l3BjfyS9Q that lists the causes of climate change and provides some suggested solutions. It makes several references to living in the United Kingdom, but the messages are just as relevant to the New Zealand situation.

ACTIVITY Year 9 students can complete Worksheet C5a: A Global Challenge and Year 10 students can complete Worksheet C5b: Inspiring Men and Women Confronting Climate Change.

C5FIRST WEEK OF LENT LESSON PLAN

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Values and Attitudes towards Climate Change

LEARNING OUTCOMES • Make a judgement about the level of responsibility humans should be taking in terms of

reducing global warming• Debate the adequacy of the New Zealand Government’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan

SHARE WITH STUDENTS The results of a New Zealand climate attitudes survey were published in May 2015. The survey, carried out by Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, involved 2,200 participants. They were each asked if they were concerned about the potential effect of climate change on themselves, and on society, and what they were prepared to do about it.

Only about half of those polled (49 per cent) agreed that they were certain that climate change is really happening. When asked what they were planning to do to combat climate change, 73 per cent of participants said they would install energy-efficient lightbulbs, 69 per cent said they would conserve water, and 62 per cent said they would reduce air-conditioning, heating and lighting use.

The report summarising the survey results is called From Fact to Act: New Zealanders’ Beliefs and Actions of Climate Change. You can read it here.

ASK STUDENTSDo you think that if we conducted a similar survey in your class would we get similar results?

VIEWTo give the students some background about the climate change issue, view the animation at www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9l3BjfyS9Q that lists the causes of climate change and provides some suggested solutions.

ACTIVITYConduct a brief survey of your class.What percentage of students believe that the world’s climate is changing because of human activity?

What percentage of students believe that they personally can do something to combat climate change?

What percentage of students are prepared to change their behaviour to help limit climate change?

What motivates the students who are willing to change their behaviours?

What are the reasons given by those students who are not prepared to change?

VIEWThen watch the I am climate change video from Catholic Relief Services (a Caritas agency based in America) at www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7gBkJtsPYo.

DISCUSSIONAsk students how they feel after watching the video? Reflect on the question, ‘Do YOU feel responsible for climate change?’

SHARE In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis says that ‘we must not think that these (our little daily actions) are not going to change the world. They benefit society, often unbeknown to us, for they call forth a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread…’

Catholic social teaching says that, in our actions, we should consider ‘the common good’ – the good of each person and every person. We belong to a global community; our choices affect other people and the earth that nourishes us all. Care for the environment is part of care for the common good.

(Y11) C6aFIRST WEEK OF LENT LESSON PLAN

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

READDivide the class into small groups and have each group read one of the following fact sheets, and then report to the class on the three main things they learned from their fact sheet.

Fact Sheet 6: The Royal Society of New Zealand on Climate Change

Fact Sheet 7: The Paris Agreement

Fact Sheet 8: Greenhouse Gases in New Zealand

Fact Sheet 9: New Zealand’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan

ACTIVITY• Conduct a class debate on the topic,

‘That New Zealand is doing enough to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.’

• Invite students to work out their individual carbon footprints on the CarboNZero website: www.enviro-mark.com/tools-and-resources/for-individuals. Then have students work out some ways in which they can reduce their carbon footprints.

• Brainstorm some ways in which New Zealanders can put pressure on the government to take our emissions reductions more seriously. Find out about ways that organisations such as 350 New Zealand (350.org.nz) and Generation Zero (www.generationzero.org) are trying to raise awareness about the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

FIRST WEEK OF LENT LESSON PLAN

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Climate Change and the Common Good

LEARNING OUTCOMES • Apply the CST principle of the Common Good to the issue of climate change• Explain the ways in which Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand acts as an advocate for those suffering

from the adverse effects of climate change

VIEWView an interview about climate change and the CST principle of the Common Good at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXKNa29UX1Y.

VIDEO SUMMARY FOR TEACHER INFORMATION• The common good is the good for all,

and the good of all, people.• Climate issues underly the good of all

people. Economic and environmental issues are intertwined.

• We have a common earth, our common home.

• The common good is about treating our earth better.

• Water, land, air and climate are the commons. But the common good is about the way in which we choose to use these goods.

• Ecological conversion is not just about turning to the natural environment, it’s also about turning to Christ. Pope Francis is inspired by St Francis of Assisi who believed that our attention to the natural world is part of our commitment to Christ. John Paul II and Patriarch Bartholomew I – stressed individual and community conversion around the way we treat our environment.

• There are three aspects of Pope Francis’ ministry, which are inspired by St Francis of Assisi: concern for poverty, concern for peace-making and concern for creation.

• Pope Francis promotes ecological virtues: love and care for creation, and justice, peace making and mercy towards the natural world which has been exploited.

ACTIVITIESComplete Worksheet C6b: Climate Change and the Common Good. This worksheet helps students unpack the ideas in Celia Deane-Drummond’s interview.

Complete Worksheet C6c: Climate Change Advocacy. Focus on advocacy for those adversely affected by climate change. To find out about one of the ways in which Caritas advocates for those who are negatively impacted by the effects of climate change, direct students to: www.caritas.org.nz/advocacy/submissions. On this page students can find an explanation about how and why Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand staff engage in the process of writing submissions to the New Zealand government on various social justice issues.

By going to the resource filter page and searching under: Topic: Environment, Group: Submissions, Type: Submission, and Country: Aotearoa New Zealand, students can then scroll down to the submission entitled, Caritas submission 2015 on Climate Change Contribution Consultation.

This submission was written prior to the Climate Summit in Paris (in November 2015), and makes reference to what the New Zealand government should be offering to contribute to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). For background information on the Paris Agreement that came out of the Climate Summit, and the New Zealand plan in terms of GHG emissions reductions, go to Fact Sheets 7, 8 & 9 at www.caritas.org.nz/schools/lent-in-schools.

Worksheet C6c helps students to unpack the ideas in this submission. This worksheet and Worksheet C6b are used in the lessons to prepare students for the Yr 12 Religious Education achievement standard task, AS 90822. This task can be found at www.caritas.org.nz.

(Y12-13) C6cC6bFIRST WEEK OF LENT LESSON PLAN

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Caring for the Earth

Circle the action that you will do during Lent to help look after the earth.

C1

What can you do to care for the earth, our home?

WORKSHEET

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Looking after the Planet

Circle the action that you will do during Lent to help look after the earth.

C2

What can you do to care for the earth, our home?

Turn off the tap when you’re brushing

your teeth.

Recycle plastic, paper and glass. Ride a bike more often.

Plant something in the garden.

Draw another action here.

WORKSHEET

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Live Simply

Live simply so that others may simply live.

Some countries that are badly affected by climate change are…

How I can live more simply this Lent? (Check out the Caritas Lent Calendar for some good ideas.)

Go online and look more closely at this infographic from The Royal Society of New Zealand. Use it to help you design a low-carbon town or city. www.royalsociety.org.nz/media/2016/06/Infographics-Transition-to-a-low-carbon-economy-actions.pdf

Consider:

• how houses and buildings will be heated

• what form of energy vehicles will use

• forms of transport that don’t need fuel, etc.

• how the central business district will be designed to reduce the need for inner city transport

• green spaces for people to meet and engage in recreational activities.

C4C3

The worst effects of all attacks on the environment are suffered by the poorest......rises in sea level mainly affect poor coastal communities who have nowhere else to go.

WORKSHEET

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

C5a

A Global Challenge

In his encyclical, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis says that climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. He reminds us of the covenant that God established with our ancestors to protect creation and all living things. However, humans are plundering the earth’s resources and polluting its atmosphere.

This responsibility for God’s earth means that human beings, endowed with intelligence, must respect the laws of nature and the delicate equilibria existing between the creatures of this world.

Laudato Si’, #68

Pope Benedict XVI said, ‘We need a decisive ‘yes’ to care for creation and a strong commitment to reverse those trends that risk making the situation of decay irreversible.’

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:1. How does harming the earth risk damaging our relationship with God?2. How does harming the earth risk damaging our relationships with each other?

Chris Bain, Director of CAFOD, the Catholic international development charity in England and Wales, says…

We have a stark choice: either we confront climate change, or we won’t be able to end poverty. We have partners on the ground… telling us it’s desperately poor people who are hardest hit when a harvest fails, when their animals are weakened by drought, or when the glacier that supplies water for their crops is melting and shrinking.

FIND OUT:Find out about the flooding in Whanganui in 2014, or the ongoing summer droughts in South Canterbury.

Could these weather events be related to climate change?

What are people who live in rural New Zealand saying about the effects of climate change on their livelihoods?

What can you do to make a difference to your local environment? How can you protect New Zealand’s environment so that it can sustain future generations?

How can you reduce your own carbon footprint, so that you are contributing less to climate change?

Check out www.enviro-mark.com/tools-and-resources/for-individuals.

Use a carbon footprint calculator. Make a pledge to do something differently this Lent that will help protect the environment.

WORKSHEET

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Inspiring Men and Women Confronting Climate Change

Pope Francis says that climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. He reminds us of the covenant that God established with our ancestors to protect creation and all living things. However, humans are plundering the earth’s resources and polluting its atmosphere.

This responsibility for God’s earth means that human beings, endowed with intelligence, must respect the laws of nature and the delicate equilibria existing between the creatures of this world.

Laudato Si’, #68

Pope Benedict XVI said, ‘We need a decisive ‘yes’ to care for creation and a strong commitment to reverse those trends that risk making the situation of decay irreversible.’

Find examples of New Zealanders who are contributing to a low-carbon future for New Zealand.

Stimulus Material: Fact Sheet 6: The Royal Society of New Zealand on Climate Change.

Investigate what some businesses and organisations in New Zealand are doing in order to adapt to a low-carbon economy.

The following groups are worth researching:

• Pure Advantage (an initiative of leading business people advocating ‘green growth’ for New Zealand’s economy)

• Drive Electric• Air New Zealand• Gull New Zealand (selling biofuel at the pump)• MAERSK Line shipping company• EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Agency)• Sustainable Business Network• Mahana Blue (heat pump)

C5bWORKSHEET

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Values and Attitudes Towards Climate Change

The results of a New Zealand climate attitudes survey were published in May 2015. The survey, carried out by Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, involved 2,200 participants. They were each asked if they were concerned about the potential effect of climate change on themselves, and on society, and what they were prepared to do about it.

Only about half of those polled (49 per cent) agreed that they were certain that climate change is really happening. When asked what they were planning to do to combat climate change, 73 per cent of participants said they would install energy-efficient lightbulbs, 69 per cent they would conserve water, and 62 per cent said they would reduce air-con, heating and lighting use.

The report summarising the survey results is called From Fact to Act: New Zealanders’ Beliefs and Actions of Climate Change. You can read it here.

CONDUCT A BRIEF SURVEY OF YOUR CLASSWhat percentage of students believe that the world’s climate is changing because of human activity?

What percentage of students believe that they personally can do something to combat climate change?

What percentage of students are prepared to change their behaviour to help limit climate change?

What motivates the students who are willing to change their behaviours?

What are the reasons given by those students who are not prepared to change?

READFact Sheets provided by your teacher.

POSSIBLE ACTIVITIES• Conduct a class debate on the topic, ‘That New Zealand is doing enough to reduce its

greenhouse gas emissions.’• Work out your individual carbon footprints on the CarboNZero website: www.enviro-mark.com/

tools-and-resources/for-individuals. And then work out some ways in which you can reduce your carbon footprints.

• Brainstorm some ways in which New Zealanders can put pressure on the government to take our emissions reductions more seriously. Find out about ways that organisations such as 350 New Zealand and Generation Zero are trying to raise awareness about the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They are encouraging businesses to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Find out what this means. (www.350.org.nz).

C6aWORKSHEET

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Climate Change and the Common Good

View The Common Good which is a CAFOD video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXKNa29UX1Y

DISCUSSDefine the principle of the Common Good.

Why is climate something that should be protected for the good of all?

What does ecological conversion mean?

What does Celia mean when she says, Ecological conversion is a community event as well as an individual event?

Describe in your own words how the principle of Common Good can be applied to understanding why we should assist those who are negatively affected by climate change.

ACTIVITYTo find out more about Pope Francis’ call to Ecological Conversion, go to his Message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, 2016 available at the Vatican website here.

READ TOGETHERThe following is a helpful quote from the United States Catholic Bishops Conference (USCBC) on climate change and the common good. You may find it useful as a summary of the Church’s position.

Working for the common good requires us to promote the flourishing of all human life and all of God’s creation. In a special way, the common good requires solidarity with the poor who are often without the resources to face many problems, including the potential impacts of climate change. Our obligations to the one human family stretch across space and time. They tie us to the poor in our midst and across the globe, as well as to future generations. The commandment to love our neighbor invites us to consider the poor and marginalized of other nations as true brothers and sisters who share with us the one table of life intended by God for the enjoyment of all.

Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, USCBC, 2001

C6bWORKSHEET

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Climate Change Advocacy

To find out about one of the ways in which Caritas advocates for those who are negatively impacted by the effects of climate change, go to www.caritas.org.nz/advocacy/submissions

On this page you can find an explanation about how and why Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand staff engage in the process of writing submissions to the New Zealand government on various social justice issues.

By going to the resource filter page and searching under: Topic: Environment, Group: Submissions, Type: Submission, and Country: Aotearoa New Zealand, you can then scroll down to the submission entitled, Caritas submission 2015 on Climate Change Contribution Consultation.

Note: This submission was written prior to the Climate Summit in Paris (in November, 2015), and makes reference to what the New Zealand government should be offering to contribute to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

For background information on the Paris Agreement that came out of the Climate Summit, and the New Zealand plan in terms of GHG emissions reductions, go to the Fact Sheets 7, 8 & 9 on the Schools Lent Resources page at www.caritas.org.nz/lent-schools.

HOW TO NAVIGATE AROUND THE SUBMISSIONThe following questions will help you to understand how Caritas consistently makes reference to various CST principles in order to explain its position on what New Zealand should be doing to contribute to limiting climate change.

Paragraph 2: Who is Caritas advocating for?

Paragraph 3: What are the four CST principles referred to?

Paragraph 6: Who are the particular people who are mentioned in this paragraph, and what specifically are they struggling against?

Paragraph 8: What is being criticised here?

Paragraph 12: How does this statement relate to the CST principle of the Common Good?

Paragraph 14: According to Caritas, what are we in New Zealand morally obliged to do?

Paragraph 18-20: While the world’s governments are interested in keeping global average temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, Pacific peoples are advocating for a different goal. What is it?

Paragraph 23: How does Caritas suggest that the New Zealand agricultural industry could become more environmentally sustainable?

Paragraph 25: What does Caritas believe are some of the costs of doing nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Paragraph 31: Caritas says that our government must take into account the interests of New Zealanders and all other human beings when formulating its carbon emissions reductions plan.

Go to Fact Sheet 9 to find out more about New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan.

Do you think that the New Zealand government is taking its obligations to the global community seriously enough?

C6cWORKSHEET

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Reflection on Lenten actions

• Ask students to recall the action they chose to carry out during Lent which would increase their stewardship of the environment and combat climate change.

• Have they managed to consistently carry out this action during the 6 weeks of Lent?

• What was difficult about sticking to their chosen action?

• What did they learn by carrying out this action?

• Can students identify any positive outcomes from carrying out their chosen action: for themselves, for their families, or for their environment?

• Are there any actions that students will keep doing even though Lent is over?

HOLY WEEK LITURGYUse the Stations of the Cross Powerpoint Liturgy available at www.caritas.org.nz. Liturgy Notes for Primary Schools can be used to help guide the leaders during the 15 stations. There are the traditional 14 stations followed by station 15, which is based on the Resurrection.

This liturgy is suitable for class groups or for a whole school assembly. The slides depict some of the situations in the Pacific countries that the students have studied during Lent. Students can meditate on Jesus’s journey to the Cross whilst reflecting on the lives of our Pacific neighbours who are struggling with the effects of climate change.

It is an opportunity for us to do as Pope Francis encourages us, to see Christ’s face in the poor and the vulnerable.

‘Lent is a favourable season for opening the doors to all those in need and recognising in them the face of Christ.’

Pope Francis, Lenten Message, 2017

Primary (Y1-8)HOLY WEEK LESSON PLAN

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC

Secondary (Y9-13)

Reflection on Lenten actions

• Ask students to recall the action they chose to carry out during Lent which would increase their stewardship of the environment and combat climate change.

• Have they managed to consistently carry out this action during the 6 weeks of Lent?

• What was difficult about sticking to their chosen action?

• What did they learn by carrying out this action?

• Can students identify any positive outcomes from carrying out their chosen action: for themselves, for their families, or for their environment?

• Are there any actions that students will keep doing even though Lent is over?

ENCOURAGE OLDER STUDENTS TO GET INVOLVED Students might like to contact Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand and subscribe to our e-newsletter to keep them informed about the work of Caritas in the Pacific region. Go to www.caritas.org.nz and click on Sign up to the Caritas monthly e-newsletter. There is no cost involved. Students just need to provide a name and an email address.

350.org is a world-wide network of predominantly young people who are concerned about climate change and engage in practical actions to try to reduce global warming.

Students can go to www.350pacific.org to find out more.

Students might also be encouraged to find out about a similar organisation called Generation Zero at www.generationzero.org

HOLY WEEK LITURGYUse the Stations of the Cross Powerpoint Liturgy available at www.caritas.org.nz. Liturgy Notes for Secondary Schools can be used to help guide the leaders during the 15 stations. There are the traditional 14 stations followed by station 15, which is based on the Resurrection.

This liturgy is suitable for class groups or for a whole school assembly. The slides depict some of the situations in the Pacific countries that the students have studied during Lent. Students can meditate on Jesus’s journey to the Cross whilst reflecting on the lives of our Pacific neighbours who are struggling with the effects of climate change.

It is an opportunity for us to do as Pope Francis encourages us, to see Christ’s face in the poor and the vulnerable.

‘Lent is a favourable season for opening the doors to all those in need and recognising in them the face of Christ.’

Pope Francis, Lenten Message, 2017

HOLY WEEK LESSON PLAN

CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC