PRESS RELEASE: Living Laudato Si’ Philippines (LLS) is set to launch their latest handbook on sustainability entitled “Sustainable Development Goals and Laudato Si’: Towards Eco-Solidarity,” on April 22, 2021, Thursday, through the online Philippine Earth Day Celebration in partnership with the Earth Day Network Philippines Inc. and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) at 3:15 PM, Philippine Standard Time.
METRO MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The world is in a state of climate emergency, and in response, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Pope Francis’s second encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care For Our Common Home came to be in 2015. The latest LLS handbook navigates the pages of both landmark documents for you and analyzes their interconnectedness in directing global climate action.
As citizens and residents of the Philippines, our resilience is constantly being tested against extreme weather events brought about by climate change. Still, we continue to entertain environmentally destructive endeavors, such as the use of single-use plastics and investing in coal-fired power plants, for profit.
“The main issue with our pursuit of sustainability is that we are so enamored with technological innovations and their material benefits for us. We are losing sight that these solutions are meaningless without our humanity. It is our values on justice, equity, and compassion that will point these solutions towards the direction of sustainability,” says John Leo Algo, Deputy Executive Director of Programs and Campaigns for LLS and main developer of the handbook.
The current national and global progress on the SDGs, featured in the handbook, highlights the urgency to act. “2030 is less than a decade away, and yet no country is on track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” says Algo. “Rethinking our development pathways is not just necessary; it is long overdue. It is undisputed that planetary and people’s health must be prioritized over simply making profits.”
Aside from the original cross-analysis, the handbook features hefty additional content, including ecological programs of note such as the Laudato Si’ Goals and Laudato Si’ Multi-Year Action Platform. It empowers the readers to lead sustainable lives by providing achievable individual and community actions to help contribute to attaining a greener and more sustainable future in line with the SDGs and the principles of Laudato Si’. It also introduces divestment and the Eco-Actions of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Pastoral Letter.
Under the guidance of Rodne Galicha, the Executive Director of LLS the handbook developers are the aforementioned, John Leo Algo, and Wynken Myrrh Gelito, Media & Communications Officer of LLS. As the world faces immediate and long-term threats at the global and local scales, the urgency for a unified approach for attaining sustainability and eco-solidarity has never been stronger. It is our goal in writing this handbook to help achieve that.
An electronic copy of the book is available for free download here: https://livinglaudatosi.org.ph/sdgls21/
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Living Laudato Si’ Philippines, a lay-initiated climate movement focusing on ethical investments based on Pope Francis’ seminal encyclical on ecology ‘Laudato Si’, is a member of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines – National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (CBCP-NASSA) Eco-Convergence, Power for People Coalition, Green Convergence for Safe Food Healthy Environment, and Sustainable Economy and the Asia Climate Change Consortium.
For more information: Wynk Gelito, Media & Communications Officer – 09173237987 / wynken.gelito@livinglaudatosi.org.ph
Rodne Galicha, Lead Convenor – 09271515908 / info@rodgalicha.com
