Divest the Vatican
Climate change is threatening to destroy our Pacific Islands, so we're travelling to the Vatican and calling on our religious leaders to divest from fossil fuels. Our faith is central to our culture and way of life, so now we're calling on our faith leaders in the Vatican to divest from fossil fuels. We're sending our Climate Warriors to deliver this urgent message to the Vatican in person. And we need your help.
What We Need & What You Get
We need your help to step up the Divest the Vatican campaign and send the Warriors to the Pope's doorstep. We'll be travelling throughout the Pacific to listen and collect stories of how climate change is destroying the Pacific way of life, and we'll be weaving these stories into traditional mats. We will then carry these mats and stories with us to the Vatican to show what is at risk if our leaders there don't divest from fossil fuels.
We need $25,000 to cover all the costs of gathering stories from across the Pacific, and for flights and accommodation for the Warriors. The more we raise, the more stories we can share, and the more powerful our voice will be.
Contributing for the Pacific is a powerful gesture but we think you deserve more than just a thank you and that's why we've worked with our communities to produce a range of perks.
The Pope's encyclical on the climate is evidence that the Vatican understands the need for action, now the Warriors have an opportunity to motivate the Vatican to stand by the Pope's powerful words, and divest from fossil fuels.
The Full Story
In 2014, the Pacific Climate Warriors blockaded the largest coal port in the world to send a direct message to the fossil fuel industry. This year, we will send a message to those investing in the climate crisis.
In October 2015, as the pope returns from his tour of the United States, a group of 12- 15 Pacific Climate Warriors will arrive in the Vatican, where they will undertake a peaceful demonstration, asking the Pope to divest the Vatican from fossil fuels. Using traditional women mats, the Pacific Climate warriors will demonstrate the grief and loss being experienced in the Pacific Islands at the hands of the Fossil Fuel industry, in a traditional and symbolic “Act of Contrition’ or “Fa’anoanoa’.
They will persevere until they feel their message has been communicated- building on the growing “Divest the Vatican” campaign. This tour will also be an opportunity for Pacific Islanders to tell their stories as moral witnesses to the impacts of climate change in their island homes.
Historically, the stories of Pacific Islanders have been told by outsiders, and very rarely by young Pacific Islanders. Through in- depth story telling training, we will support our organizers on the ground to document and share their stories, as told to and reported by, young Pacific Islanders. We will then release the stories through global media outlets and 350.org channels.
The Mat Weaving Project builds on the theme of demonstrating the action required to change the narrative for the Pacific Islands in the face of climate change: “We are not drowning, we are fighting”.
Who are the Pacific Climate Warriors?
Five years ago, a network of young Pacific Islanders began to form under the name of 350 Pacific, to join with the global climate change movement, 350.org.
Active in 15 of the Pacific Island Nations across the region, this network has grown through practicing a unique approach to organizing and mobilizing- placing faith and culture at the center of it all. Through building a solid foundation, 350 Pacific was then able to empower young people to understand the issues of climate change and their role in the solutions needed to protect and enrich their islands, cultures, and traditions.
Other Ways You Can Help
Many of you have supported the Climate Warriors in the past and have likely divested your personal assets already. We are eternally grateful and humbled by the support that we have received from across the globe. If you're keen to help out further then sometimes the best thing you can do is share this with your friends, email your networks and explain why this matters to you. We are a global community and without you, the Pacific Islands are in real trouble.
- Email your friends and family about the campaign and encourage them to take part.
- Using the social media share buttons below increase the visibility of the campaign and can make all the difference.
- Sign the Divest the Vatican petition.
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