Environmental campaigners from across the Church of South India have called on the CSI Synod to step up its commitment to sustainable values.

Delegates from 24 dioceses across CSI issued a wide-ranging declaration after a two-day workshop last month. The Kanyakumari Declaration urges the CSI to be more far-sighted – and support development which does not compromise future generations’ ability to meet their own needs.

“We have to build an economy that will support, not undermine, future generations,” it says.

The Declaration suggests a number of measures, including buying products from more sustainable sources; buying more locally-made goods; using less paper and cutting unnecessary travel.  It also calls ons developed nations to cut their reliance on fossil fuels and condemns the United States for its plan to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

It says the Church needs to be prophetic and express solidarity with creation.

The workshop on “Sustainable Values for a Green Church” was organised by CSI’s Department of Ecological Concerns.

Read the Declaration here.