Edmund Rice International

It is it is still possible to keep global temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius  above pre-industrial values and limit the devastating impacts of climate change, However, this will require a vast, unprecedented global effort according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). National pledges submitted to date […]

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were established by the United Nations in 2015 to succeed the Millenium Development Goals. The SDGs are further broken down into a total of 169 targets and 304 indicators which measure compliance. The goals cover social and economic development issues including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, gender equality, […]

Students and teachers at Presentation College, Bray in Ireland have developed an innovative approach to raise awareness about the 17 internationally agreed UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A team of 37 student-activists, with the support of some teachers, used the popular computer game ‘Minecaft’ to imagine and design what their school might look like if […]

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has recently reported that concentrations of CO2 gas (a major greenhouse gas contributor to global warming) had surged in 2016 to reach a level not seen for more than 3 million years.. More alarmingly is that the abrupt rate of increase in concentration of the gas in the atmosphere is […]

Br. Kevin Cawley of Edmund Rice International joined a large group of scholars and practitioners this summer at a Conference on Spirituality and Sustainability assembled in Rome and Assisi from June 24 – July 4. Kevin had responded to a special invitation from the sponsors of the conference on “Spirituality and Sustainability,” as Executive Director […]

The Edmund Rice Centre for Justice & Community Education (ERC) has been documenting the fate of rejected asylum seekers returned to Afghanistan by the Australian government since 2002. Their latest report is the continuation of ERC’s determination to investigate Australia’s most recent deportations to Afghanistan by providing an overview of Afghanistan’s current security, political, and […]

There are always questions for some about the worth of public demonstrations on behalf of good causes.  Assembling large contingents requires, among other concerns, months and months of careful planning and long discussions about logistics, permits, line of march, themes, signage requirements and restrictions, transport logistics, costs to participants in time and money, alternative routes, […]

18th June marks the first anniversary of  the papal encyclical ‘Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home’. More than a document about just the environment, the encyclical links our duty to the poor and vulnerable, our responsibility as stewards of the earth and concerns about blind technological and economic progress which ignores the common […]

Since 1970, the 22nd April has been designated as World Earth Day, “a movement which gave voice to an emerging consciousness, channelling human energy toward environmental issues.” This years Earth Day is especially significant, with world leaders and diplomats converging on the United Nations’ New York headquarters to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change […]

I was privileged to attend the first week of the COP21 in Paris on Climate Change as a delegate for Franciscans International, and I monitored for ERI networks the second week of decisions, when the draft text was refashioned by the politicians into the final Paris Agreement and Decisions. It was a tremendous process of […]