By Emily A Gilbert
KOTA KINABALU — Archbishop of Kota Kinabalu, Most Rev John Wong, has launched on Sep 5 a five-year environmental campaign “Protect Our Earth, Protect Our Children” under the Creation Justice Commission (CJC) and Eco-Outreach Team (EOT).
Close to 40 CJC representatives from various KK parishes and other archdiocesan commissions were at the event which was co-launched together with YB Senator Tuan Adrian Lasimbang, witnessed by Fr Russel Lawrine, CJC Spiritual Director and Sr Calista Saliun, CJC Coordinator.
The campaign commencing from Sep 1, 2020 until Aug 31, 2025 will adopt a different theme each year; the theme for this year is “Use Less Electricity”.
The launching of the campaign was also in line with the celebration of Season of Creation that began from Sep 1-Oct 4, 2020 with the theme “Jubilee for the Earth”.
During the Season of Creation, Sr Calista said Pope Francis reminds us to go back to the beginning of time where God, humankind and other creations live together in harmony. She quoted from the Laudato Si’ Encyclical on the few tips that can be done in our daily life as a way of moving forward into a new lifestyle such as avoiding water wastage, planting trees and using less electricity.
Meanwhile, Fr Lawrine during his speech encouraged the community to join the campaign in protecting the Earth and the future generation simply by starting reducing electrical consumption as part of new practices in daily life.
Apart from that, there was also a fruitful sharing session given by YB Senator Lasimbang on renewable energy such as the solar energy and a few tips on electricity saving that one needs to know and be aware for example choosing electric-efficient appliances, reducing the operating time of any electrical appliances and having an attitude to use electricity efficiently.
After handing over campaign posters and leaflets to each parish representatives, Archbishop Wong in his brief speech, said there are urgent needs to protect the environment especially during this time of difficult pandemic. He encouraged the involvement of each person in working together to care for Creation.
