SDSN Italia and partners host a conference for the First Anniversary of “Laudato Si’” – A celebration of the Encyclical for the Age of Sustainable Development
On Friday June 24 th , the Conference “Laudato Si’, 2030 Agenda, COP21 a Year Later: Reflections and Perspectives ” was held in Assisi, the medieval town that gave birth to St. Francis.
Monsignor Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Pontifical Academy of Sciences Chancellor and SDSN Leadership Council member, set the framework for the event, exploring how the Encyclical contributed to the global discussion on sustainable development, as he did during the other similar events organized by SDSN Spain ( /news/2016/05/26/the-encyclical-laudato-si-one-year-after6c8c43e1 ) and by SDSN Amazonia ( http://www.sdsn-amazonia.org/#!en-principal/ko1uz ).
Monsignor Soronodo presented “Laudato Si’ as a moral charter for sustainable development. Pope Francis develops the theme of integral ecology, which highlights a deep relationship between how we treat the earth and how we treat the poor. This leads him to note that “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.” In response to this, Pope Francis calls for integral and sustainable human development, which focuses on the need for an “integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.” This requires an “ecological conversion”, but it also requires a concerted effort of the international community to think in terms of “one world with a common plan”, recognizing that global consensus is essential for confronting these deep problems. This event proves that the legacy of the Laudato Si’ lives on and that it is driving a wave of collaboration on our moral imperative to act.
High-level representatives of local institutions opened the conference, including Sabina Ratti, Executive Director of FEEM and of SDSN Italia, who provided one of the keynote speeches. The Reflections Session hosted academics and high-level representatives from the Italian civil society, including major environmental NGOs. Professor Angelo Riccaboni, Rector of Siena University and SDSN Assembly Chair was also invited to present during this session. The final roundtable enabled Italian private sector stakeholders to share ideas on the possible integration of Laudato Si’ principles and recommendations into their activities and solutions initiatives.
The event was organized by Sorella Natura Foundation, University of Perugia, SDSN Italia and its hosting institution Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei ( FEEM ) . For more information on the conference, please click here or visit Sorella Natura (Italian version only).