global concerns

global concerns

1. Christians

   • God
     • Things created by god have value.
     • Some christians also argue that natural things of the world have a gooodness because god said so.
     • The natural world was created for human beings to use responsibly.
     • The bible says you have lived on earth in luxuary and self indulgence you have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.
     • According to the gospel the poor are blessed and the kingdom of heaven is theirs and the poor are waiting for justice.
     • The text also identifies ways of showing love e.g. visiting and looking after the sick and those in prison. Providing for those who are hungry and thirsty caring for strangers clothing and respecting those who have lost everything who are stripped of dignity.
     • In the bible it says christ has no body on earth but yours no hands but yours no feet but yours yours are the eyes through which christ compassion for the world is to look out. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good and yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now.
   • Many christians believe they are stewards of the world this means having healthy ecosystems and responsible level of consumption.
     • christians belive they should preserve the environment for who is young now or born later.
     • Sharing natural resources.
     • Using the resources of the world in a sustainable way,
     • Joining groups which campaign for or protect the world.
   • Christian churches are becoming more energy efficient and credition methodist church in devon are educating people on being eco friendly. Discussing climate change on the radio and raising money for solar panels in Malawi.
   • And other churches are doing different things to become eco friendly,
   • the earth charter is a set of 13 rules this is supported by over 2500 organisations including unesco and the world conservation union. Hundreds of cities and millions of people the rules which are. 1. Respect earth snd life in all of its diversity. 2. Care for the community of life. 3. Build peaceful fair and sustainable societies. 4. Secure earths bounty and beauty for the future. 5. Protect and restore the earths ecological systems. 6. Prevent harm to the earth. 8. Advance the study of ecological sustainability. 9. Eradicate poverty. 10. Ensure that economic activity promotes sustainable development. 11. Afirm equality. 12. Uphold the right of all to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity. 13. Strengthen democracy.
   • Christian leaders have encouraged ordirary people to respond e.g. the bishop of london called for a cut in personal carbon use in lent in 2008 and pope benedict had 40 solar panels placed on the roof at the vatican.
   • Christians believe that natural resources should not be wasted.
   • Barthomelow 1 a christian leader he said to commit a crime against the natural world is sinful to cause species to become extinct and destroy the biological diversity of gods creation for humans to contaminate the earths waters its land its air and its life with poisonous substances theese are sins.
   • Pope john said it is not wrong to want to live better what is wrong is the style of life which is presumed to be better when it is directed towards having rather than being. And which wants to have more not in order to be more but to spend life in enjoyment as an end in itself.
   • To respond to environmental concerns they have created an earth charter movement which are 13 rules to help the world.
   • Some christians believe that in order for the love of god to be in him or her he must have compassion for a fellow human being.
   • The bible teaches us to
     • look after the sick.
   • Some christians see the environmentanmental problems as gods punishment for human sin and believe they should prepare and not try to avert climate problems.
   • Many christians believe every single human being has dignity and should be respected. The human person is a sacred unique being created by God to be treated with love.
   • Loving your neighbour includes actively caring for those in need.
   • Christianity is a religion where love for god is shown through deeds of practical loving kindness love of neighbour is essential to what it means to be a christian. Love for jesus is expressed through love and service to the needy human beings have a moral responsibility to there duty for those in need god takes human actions really serious.
   • Christians
     • A Christian might feel they should look after the needs of those close by and try to make a real difference there. They might respond with prayer or they might respond by giving to charity and campaigning for a change.
     • 4 christian voluntary aid agencies dedicated to supporting the poorest and most disadvantaged marginalised people are christian aid tear fund CAFOD and tracer their activities include educational and awareness campaigns emergency relief development projects and campaigning to promote justice.
   • Christians campaign against exploiting the poor to get things cheaper. Many people are concerned that little of the price paid for things sold in rich countries gets back to the farmers and producers themselves. The fair trade foundation is a non profit organisation established in 1992 by a number of charities. It is the uk member of fair-trade labelling organisations international that licenses the use of the fairtrade mark on products in the UK it believes that trade should be fair and with respect to all. It works with farmers in poorer countries in an open and honest way to agree on the price the producer is paid a premium. Which must be spent on education healthcare improvements to increase the yield or quality of the product or processing facilities to improve income.

2. Problems

   • climate change
     • Climate change is the long term change in the average weather.
     • This means that crop yields will be reduced.
     • The amount of deaths will increase.
     • Those without appropriate housing will have a reduction in the quality of life.
     • There will be water shortages more flooding and more wildfires.
   • Pollution
   • Destruction of natural habitats.
   • The abuse of natural resources.
   • Rich and poor people will be affected but poor people will be more affected.

3. Responses

   • individual
     • Better recycling of paper cardboard metal and plastics
     • Stop using plastic bags
     • Loft and wall cavity insulation.
     • Don't leave taps running and only turn them on when needed.
     • Don't leave appliances on standby.
     • Use energy efficient lightbulbs.
   • community
     • Walk or cycle more and use cars less.
     • Some environmentalists have given up using planes unless needed because they use too much fuel.
     • Buy local food
   • National
     • The world should spend one per cent of gdp to avoid the worst effects of climate change. And if they dont then the global gdp will decrease by up to 20 percent and cause dramatic economic hardship.
     • The UK government are finding renewable and nuclear forms of power generation.
     • Increasing regulations on buildings.
     • Supporting the development of new greener cars.
     • Encouraging energy conservation and recycling.
   • international
     • The united nations tried to find ways to halt the destruction of irreplacable natural resources and pollution of the planet.
     • The 1997 kyoto protocol which aims to reduce greenhouse gases by 5 percent.
     • The european union aim to reduce carbon emisions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. And have 20 percent of energy from renewable energy resources.

4. The division

5. Causes

6. Poverty

   • 20 percent of the worlds population live in extreme poverty.
     • Extreme poverty means that peoople can't meet basic needs for survival such as food water clothing shelter sanitation and health care.
   • A recent report found that one percent of people own 40 percent of the worlds wealth. Whilst 50 percent of people own one percent of the worlds wealth.
   • People in rich countries
     • Food is cheap and easy to come by. Overheating is a cause of health problems. Water is taken for granted even in times of water shortage water is rarely not available on tap. People feel frustrated if they are not allowed to water there flowerbeds using a hosepipe.
     • primary and secondary education is free and all have access to education less than five children out of 1000 born in the uk die before their first birthday drugs and other treatments are subsidised or free
     • more people have jobs and those jobs usually have higher income working conditions are monitored and controlled to keep them safe there is financial support for the unemployed
   • People in poor countries
     • Food is difficult to come by and expensive. Malnutrition is common leading to disease. 1.2 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion do not have access to sanitation. Causing 2 million child deaths each year. Millions of women and girls spend hours collecting and carrying water. 855 million people cannot read or write and 73 million children receive no primary education
     • in parts of poorer countries 15 in every thousand die before their first birthday. In many poorer countries hospital provision is poor. Drug treatments must be paid for so treatable diseases often get worse. Many people have low payed and low skilled jobs with few opportunities to flourish. People spend long days working in unsafe conditions. There is little or no support or opportunities for the unemployed.
   • Increasingly poverty is happening because of humans. this happens like this frequent natural disasters such as droughts destroy crops and poorer people who do not have the resources required to cope and because of this families go unfed. Workers become weaker and more prone to disease. Increasingly this is happening because of man made pollution. The lack of basic healthcare means child motallity is high. Women are more likely to die and prople die unnecessarily this makes it very difficult for families and communities to develop economically. Welfare and civil strife within and between countries take resources and workers away into conflict while services suffer. Conflict often drives people from their homes and destroys their way of earning a living leaving them unable to live safe and productive lives. Corruption and mismanagement waste resources and lead to bad decisions by leaders this could
     • lead to economic collapse. In some countries huge numbers suffer from hiv and aids often young adults an important part of the workforce suffer the most meaning the country cannot develop. Poorer countries have had to borrow large sums of money from rich countries in the past and now have to pay back the loans. Unfair trade rules benefit richer countries they mean that many very poor countries are prevented from selling produce to richer countries or forced to compete against richer countries that can sell there goods cheaper. The richer more powerful countries are in a position to use their power to take and consume far more of the wealth of the world than is fair. Leaving others with less. Almost everyone who ever reads this will be far richer than the majority of the people of the world the poverty cycle. e.g. If there is a lot of ill people in the workforce through hiv or aids then there is less work and so there is more hunger which leads to more ill health.