At the fourth assembly of the European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) in Volos, Greece, in May, the keynote speaker was Jan Pronk, who served as the special envoy of UN secretary general Kofi Annan to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg 2002).

Until last year, Pronk was minister of environment in the Dutch government. While the Johannesburg summit revised established principles in the light of new developments, almost no decisions were made as to how to implement the new goals. In Pronk's evaluation of the summit, he urged churches to contribute to policy change. The churches have an important role in reminding politicians of the challenges in everyday life and in bringing forward the stories of the victims.

Discussion in the assembly focused on sustainable development, water, creation time and ecotheology, climate change, ecomanagement, transport and mobility, and environmental education. Water - the water of life - was a special focus of the assembly. Fritz Brugger, a Swiss expert on water issues, was the main speaker on this topic.

Volos by day

The 60 delegates and guests visited a Greek Orthodox monastery and were encouraged by the environmentally friendly agriculture they found there. The delegates also visited a large environmental project near Volos and were reminded of the practical impact such projects have on the habitat.

a plenary session The assembly reviewed the recent work of ECEN and elected a new "enabling team" to carry it forward. Perhaps ECEN should have organized the Johannesburg meeting.

ECEN was founded on the recommendation of the churches in Europe following the second European ecumenical assembly (Graz 1997). Its mandate is to promote environmental responsibility based on Christian conviction, to encourage and support its members in developing practical action to fulfil the churches' ecological responsibilities, and to raise the ecological awareness of the churches in Europe. It has a close relation with the Conference of European Churches.

To visit the ECEN website, click here. A dossier on climate change now includes an April 2003 update from David Hallman, the WCC's climate change programme coordinator.

Why a common witness of the European churches?

The European ecumenical assemblies in Basel (1989) and Graz (1997) emphasized the common responsibility of the churches for the protection of the environment. Why?

In the first place, there is no way of meeting the ecological crisis except through concerted action. The destruction of the environment transcends national borders and can only be contained through common efforts. Numerous issues require joint analysis and coordination at the European level and in many cases solutions presuppose an attitude of solidarity. As a community that transcends national borders, the church has the vocation to appeal to international and especially European solidarity.

The common witness of the churches at the European level is also necessary for the sake of the countries in the south. Today's ecological crisis with its worldwide effects has in many respects its roots in the industrialized countries. European countries therefore bear a responsibility that goes beyond the geographic borders of the continent. Together with other industrialized countries, Europeans are, for instance, responsible for the largest share of CO₂emissions and therefore for the warming of the earth's atmosphere with devastating effect, especially on the countries in the south. The churches are to remind the European countries of their destructive role. The task is not only to work towards the sustainability of Europe. The question is how the countries of Europe contribute to the sustainability of the whole planet.

From ECEN's inaugural assembly (Vilemov, Czech Republic, 1998)