Legarda Hopes World Day of Prayer for Env’t Will Lead to Eco-Friendly Lifestyles, Inspire Climate Action

As Pope Francis leads Catholics in observance of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation today (September 1), Senator Loren Legarda also urged her fellow Catholics to strengthen their commitment as stewards of the Earth.

Legarda, UN Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific, said she hopes that the day of prayer will ignite an environment-friendly lifestyle and climate action among Catholics.

“I hope that we could deeply reflect on the way we have lived and examine our ways that harm the environment so we can immediately change for the good,” she said.

“The Earth that we live in provides us with our needs, and even if we have all the money in the world, we will not survive in a deteriorating environment. We should be more mindful of our environment by respecting our environmental laws, veering away from a consumptive lifestyle, and working towards sustainability and resilience,” she added.

The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will be observed by the Catholic Church annually every 1st day of September starting this year. Pope Francis said he was inspired by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who initiated a similar prayer day for the Orthodox Church since the late 1980s.

In line with the observance today of the day of prayer, Legarda also announced that the Senate Committee on Climate Change, which she chairs, is already preparing for the Philippine Summit of Conscience for the Climate to be held on 25 September 2015.

In July, more than 40 religious, environmental, cultural and political leaders, including Legarda, gathered in Paris, France for a Summit of Conscience for the Climate convened by French President Francois Hollande. During the said event, Legarda declared her commitment to “initiate and launch in all the cities and municipalities, barangays, and state universities and colleges all over the country our own Summit of Conscience for the Climate.”

The Summit aims to raise the consciousness of Filipinos that climate change is a personal issue affecting every citizen, and to challenge each one to act arising from one’s individual conscience.

“Climate change is perhaps the greatest challenge that human beings face in this era, which demands changes in values, beliefs and ways of living, to do what is right and good for the environment,” Legarda concluded.