LAUDATO SI: Addressing Environmental Issues

AMAR, Angelene Aries P.

GAUDICOS, Ellah B.
GAVIOLA, Clariza B.

Christian Ethics
Wednesday 7:00P – 8:00P
1- Sanchez Roman
 LOCAL

NATIONAL

An excerpt from the encyclical letter of Pope Francis’ on care for our
common home, the Laudato Si states that “Caring for the Earth is living Integral
Ecology, ecology is not just entirely ‘environmental,’ it is beyond environmental,
rather it is the quality of life in all elements of ecology: environmental, economic,
social, cultural, behavioral, and ‘structural.”

Caring and preserving does not only refer to the environment and to any
other aspects or factors but most especially to our inner self for how can we
care and preserve others if we do not take it first to ourselves? Somehow, Pope
Francis in releasing his encyclical letter wants to remind the people to take
measures towards a life rooted in Christ and in Mother Mary. Religion, as it is,
teaches and inculcates kindness and goodness from deep within in order to be
shared to others. If people learned enough to care for themselves and for
others, it is an easy way to care for the place they live in, the common home of
the rich and the poor – the environment.

Environmental issues and problems nowadays come as a normal path to

each and every Filipino. Whether you are rich, poor, man, woman, jobless,
employed, etc, you are not exempt to feel and suffer the crisis that the world is
experiencing. In the very recent landslide in Naga, Cebu City where thousands
of the residents were affected and a number of people lost their lives, it will give
you nothing but a feeling of pain, pity and fear that one day, if you do nothing
to care and preserve, you might as well experience and suffer the same.

As a law student, I am fully aware of the increase of areas that are prone
to landslide and any other natural calamities, as well as increase in the number
of people who are easily affected by floods caused by just light rains.

I cannot hinder myself from realizing how the world abruptly changed in
responding to calamities now and years back when I was still young. I can easily
remember how the cars back then enjoy their ride by having a free-flow drive in
the different roads because traffic congestion was not yet a big problem. But
now, a person is asked and must have to spare an hour or two just for
transportation from his place to another destination most especially when it is
raining. Why? Simply because some streets are easily flooded because of
garbage and wastes that were thrown everywhere, and the carelessness of
people when it comes to caring and preserving the common home.

A simple and an easy way that a student of the law may contribute is just
to follow rules, ordinances as well as laws pertaining to care and preservation
not only to the external aspects but most especially in the internal, as a human
being. Also, setting as an example to others would be of great impact most
especially that reaching to other people, family and even strangers, are now
easy and possible because of technology, and the social media.

In our country, the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines has listed
some activities that would help in the implementation of the Laudato Si
specifically concrete ways in combating global warming: 1. Grow a tree; 2.
Switch off and unplug; 3. Goodbye plastic; 4. Segregate; 5. Reduce, reuse and
recycle; 6. No to burning of wastes; 7. Promote renewable energy; 8. Bring your
own tumbler; 9. Use energy efficient appliances; 10. Walk, bike, or carpool; 11.
Recycle electronics and batteries; 12. Environmental and energy awareness; 13.
Save water: use pail, dipper and cups; 14. Think before you print; and 15.
Support earth products.

The ways listed above are doable to the point that even the young ones
can help in their own little ways. Indeed, the capacity for change is in our hands
and the future of the world depends on our actions and decisions now and it is
true that the poor who are the first and most affected by the ecological crisis
but we must remember that crisis affects us all.

INTERNATIONAL

A passage from Pope Francis’ Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common
Home states, the human environment and the natural environment deteriorate
together; we cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we
attend to causes related to human and social degradation. In fact, the
deterioration of the environment and of society affects the most vulnerable
people on the planet: “Both everyday experience and scientific research show
that the gravest effects of all attacks on the environment are suffered by the
poorest”.

The first chapter of the Encyclical letter, Laudato Si, presents to us the
scientific findings on the environment as a way to make us aware as to what is
really happening to the world or to the planet. Some of these ecological crises
are the following: Pollution and climate change, the issue on water, loss of
biodiversity, decline in the quality of human life and the breakdown of society,
and global inequality. Furthermore, the encyclical letter challenges us to
discover what we can do about it.

On an international scale, as a law student, I cannot deny that I could not

attend to these environmental issues alone. We, every individual living in this
world, should have unity in resolving these issues. All I can do as a law student is
to follow the existing laws which provides for the protection of the environment
and to advocate, promote, and suggest laws that would preserve and restore
the conditions of the environment. Moreover, I would like to give my reflection
on how to attend to these environmental or ecological crisis.

First, on pollution and climate change. I cannot deny that this is a major
environmental issue. We experience it everyday and it becomes worse as time
goes by if we keep on ignoring it. The 7th International Conference on Climate
Change and Medical Entomology, Theme: Global Assessment on Ecological
Interaction, held at Dubai, UAE on October 15-16, 2018 presents the following
solutions on how, on a large scale, we can eradicate pollution and climate
change: (1) Forego Fossil Fuels, (2) Infrastructure Upgrade, (3) Use less
transportation, (4) Stop Cutting Down Trees, (5) Unplug the gadgets when not in
use, and (6) Population Control.

On the issue of water, the Pope clearly states that “access to safe
drinkable water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to
human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human
rights”. To deprive the poor of access to water means to deny “the right to a life
consistent with their inalienable dignity”. Every continent around the world
suffers from water shortage and some does not have access to clean drinking or
potable water. Jon Wikstrom, founder and CEO of Cool Clean technologies,
presents the following solution: (1) Solar-powered water purifiers, since hot
climates suffer from water shortage the most, (2) Leak monitors, (3) CO2
cleaning, (4) Lifesaver bottles, invention a special bottle that can instantly make
water potable, and (5) Showering with ultra-efficiency, using a reservoir tank to
collect the water normally wasted.

To solve the problems of biodiversity and ecosystem losses, as a law

student, all I can do is to follow the existing laws which prohibits the destruction
of the ecology and to suggest to the legislative department to enact further
legislation that protects ecosystems, and imposing stiff penalties for violations, in
order to prevent further habitat destruction. Moreover, the following can also be
appreciated: (1) Promote awareness to the public, (2) Ecological Restoration
and Reclamation, (3) Make Human-Occupied land more Wildlife-Friendly, (4)
Keep permanent funds for Biodiversity and (5) Alternative livelihoods for people
who are forced to damage the ecology just to survive.

On the decline in the quality of human life and the breakdown of society,
although development since the industrial revolution has significantly improved
the lives of people, many people, whether in developed or developing
countries, have suffered from the effects of modern development. They include
a sense of spiritual and cultural loss, environmental degradation, rapid
population growth, third world debt, social unrest, unemployment, vastly
increased capabilities of humanity's destructive potential, and a sense of
declining societal standards. The quality of our lives is dependent upon the
quality of our environment. Since modern development and life quality are
strongly linked, we must make use of the modern technology to help advocate
the need of caring for the environment, we must learn how to live wisely and to
lend a helping hand to others.

Globalization, understood as openness to trade and investment and the

institutions that govern this interdependence, is a historical process. If capitalism
is going to be globalized, it makes sense to globalize the rules and standards
that protect people as well in order to protect them from global inequality. Nick
Galasso and Marjorie Wood from inequality.org said that, “by taxing
progressively, respecting worker rights, and rethinking economics, we could
make a great start at creating a more equal world”. They presented ways in
order to reduce global inequality namely: (1) Stop illicit outflows, (2) Progressive
Income Tax, (3) Enforce a living wage, (4) Workers’ right to organize, (5) Stop
other labor abuses, and (6) Open and democratic trade policy.

It is important to note that one, alone, could not make all of these
solutions possible all by himself. Every individual must take responsibility of his or
her actions. We must be unified in catering the needs of the environment. Follow
the existing laws that protects and serves the environment, and for the
government of each country, to enact further legislation with strict compliance
that would cater the neglected needs of the environment. After all, in the end,
we are the ones who would suffer the consequences of the destruction of the
environment because of our own negligence, carelessness, and ignorance to
the needs of our own common home, the earth.

Sources:
1. 7th International Conference on Climate Change and Medical
Entomology, Theme: Global Assessment on Ecological Interaction,
Dubai, UAE (15-16 October 2018)
2. BOLIVIAN BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, Pastoral Letter on the Environment
and Human Development in Bolivia El universo, don de Dios para la
vida (23 March 2012), 17.
3. Overview of the Encyclical Laudato Si’, Global Catholic Movement,
May 17, 2016.
4. http://www.interaksyon.com/breaking-
news/2017/06/17/79868/reflection-pope-francis-and-caring-for-the-
earth-laudato-si-resonates-after-two-years/
5. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/opinion/content/508970/commen
tary-laudato-si-what-it-means-for-the-philippines/story/
6. http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-
9780199756223/obo-9780199756223-0025.xml