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Ecology and Development

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The human community is intimately and intrinsically connected with the whole of Creation. We cannot thrive, nor in many cases survive, outside of healthy and diverse ecosystems. Yet the marked realities of global warming, loss of biodiversity, and the contamination and depletion of water and soil resources make it ever more clear that the path we are on is self-destructive and unsustainable. Through the light of Catholic social thought and tradition, the Ecology & Development Project:  

  • analyzes the structural mechanisms driving the ecological crisis;
  • reveals the social justice ramifications; and
  • illuminates the hopeful signs on the path to a more sustainable and just future.

The Challenge
The ecological crisis is not simply an environmental issue, but fundamentally one of justice. Clean air, healthful food, safe water, and a stable climate are essential for each of us to achieve fulfillment, live in dignity and sustain viable communities. However, these basic human rights are becoming increasingly inaccessible for the majority of the world’s people, and it is those who are least responsible for the overuse and abuse of the Earth’s finite resources, often those already living below the poverty line and at the margins of society, who are at greatest risk from it.

The Hope
With wide-ranging negative implications for food production, human health, migration, livelihoods, the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, and global prospects for peace and stability, the challenge posed by climate change and the ecological degradation of the Earth is cross-cutting and urgent. Yet, at the same time, it provides us with a window of opportunity to fundamentally re-conceive our political, social and economic relationships within an interdependent world based on principles of global solidarity and long-term sustainability – in the words of Pope John Paul II, an “ecological conversion.”

Our Mission
Through research and analysis, theological reflection, advocacy, creation of resources, and collaboration with national and international partners, the Ecology & Development Project contributes a Catholic Social Teaching and global common good perspective to the evolving dialogue on ecology and development, while promoting ecologically- and socially-just policy solutions.

Center of Concern Resources

  • Election 2008
    Climate change is a rapidly evolving crisis, yet solutions lag. The 2008 election cycle creates a vital window of opportunity for a national discussion on this pressing issue: what does climate change mean for the U.S. as a country and as a member of the international community confronted by a common global ecological crisis?
    Climate Change and the Global Common Good (Issue Paper)
  • Center of Concern Blog

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