August, First Friday, Chevalier Family intentions.

In this August poster sent from the Chevalier Family Justice Committee, we are asked to name two people who inspired us with their environment-friendly mindset.

Whom would you name?

For us in the Pacific, we nominate:  John Ribat MSC and Anote Tong of Kiribati.

• Cardinal John Ribat MSC, Archbishop of Port Moresby, has spoken often on this theme:

“The rising seas level across the Pacific – we are all affected by this.”

“In Europe and here in Australia you don’t see this affecting the lives of the people. 

“But for us coming from many islands – Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu – we are seeing what the sea is doing … washing away good parts of our islands already.

“The first island that has to be evacuated … Carteret Island in Bougainville has been broken into three parts and is really disappearing.

“By 2050 most of the islands will be gone, and that is a great threat to us.

“The work of the Church is to make governments aware that we are responsible for our nation and the common good of our people.”

2.  One of the significant heads of government who made representations at international meetings is Anote Tong, former President of Kiribati.

“For us climate change is not an event in the future. It's an event that we're dealing with now…our entire survival is at stake”

“The earth is not ours to do with as we please – we are merely trustees for future generations. We ignore this reality at our peril.”

“Our message is simple: if one of the world’s smallest, poorest and most geographically isolated countries can do it, so can you.”