Stewardship, Integrity of Creation and Climate Justice: Religious Ethics Insights - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 377

technology for human development, in Bucharest in 1974, it was affi rmed that a
society will be sustainable only as long as the rate of use of non-renewable resources
does not outrun the increase in resources made available, unless the emissions of
pollutants are well below the capacity of the ecosystem to absorb them, and unless
the need for food is at any time below the global capacity to supply it. The confer-
ence aimed at searching for a positive, pro-active response to the debate on science
and technology and the future of humanity, which was sparked by the 1972 Club of
Rome report, Limits to Growth , and emphasized the idea of a “sustainable and just
society” (Robra 2002 ).
In the 1980s the ecological component of sustainable societies led to the
affi rmation of the “integrity of creation”, which I mentioned above. The WCC
Assembly in Vancouver in 1983 asked that “the links as well as the tensions between
the goals of justice, peace, and the well-being of creation should be explored from
biblical, socio-economic, and political perspectives.” After the Assembly, various
attempts were made to explore the challenges posed by the ecological crisis.
In 1987, for instance, a meeting of theologians and scientists (including James
Lovelock, who formulated the Gaia hypothesis), issued a report on “Reintegrating
the Creation.” During the same year, another consultation linked the integrity of
creation with the theme of liberation applied to all of life, not only to humanity
(Birch et al. 1990 ).
In 1988 a major consultation in Granvollen, Norway, enabled new and wide-
spread attention to the threats posed to the global environment. The report of this
consultation concluded: “The drive to have 'mastery' over creation has resulted in
the senseless exploitation of natural resources, the alienation of the land from peo-
ple and the destruction of indigenous cultures… Creation came into being by the
will and love of the Triune God, and as such it possesses an inner cohesion and
goodness” (Hall 2002 , 274).
Granvollen, then, ensured the space for a growing ecumenical discussion around
the integrity of creation in the years leading to the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of
Creation (JPIC) World Convocation, which took place in Seoul, South Korea, in
1990. At this convocation ten affi rmations on Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation
were adopted. Affi rmation VII summarized what integrity of creation means:
As Creator, God is the source and sustainer of the whole cosmos. God loves the creation…
We affi rm that the world, as God's handiwork, has its own inherent integrity; that land,
waters, air, forests, mountains and all creatures, including humanity, are "good" in God's
sight. The integrity of creation has a social aspect which we recognize as peace with justice,
and an ecological aspect which we recognize in the self-renewing, sustainable character of
natural ecosystems (Niles 1992 , 173).

Together with this affi rmation, the text continues with a critique of

anthropocentrism:
We will resist the claim that anything in creation is merely a resource for human exploita-
tion. We will resist species extinction for human benefi t; consumerism and harmful mass
production; pollution of land, air and waters; all human activities which are now leading to
probable rapid climate change; and policies and plans which contribute to the disintegration
of creation (Niles 1992 , 173).