General Election: Where do they stand on sustainable development?
The Environment Group of the NJPN Environment Group has commissioned a document highlighting what the party manifestos have to say about the environment and sustainable development.
Titled ‘Laudato Si’ and the Political Party Manifestos 2017’ it was researched and written by Julia Corcoran, the new part-time Columban Justice and Peace Advocacy Worker, who is also a new part-time Youth worker with the Westminster Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission.
The document uses direct quotes from the manifestos and looks at the issues the parties address which relate either directly or indirectly to the Encyclical ‘Laudato Si’. There is no narrative on the manifestos and readers may draw their own conclusions. The NJPN feels it is really important because environmental crises are hardly featuring in this election. In the document, the order of the manifestos is the order that they were released by the individual parties and is therefore not a ranking of how they compare to ‘Laudato Si’.
Pope Francis says in paragraph 5 of Laudato Si’:
“We can no longer speak of sustainable development apart from intergenerational solidarity. Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others.”
Link to the document: www.justice-and-peace.org.uk/resources/laudato-si-and-the-political-party-manifestos-2017/