"Sun Come Up" depicts some of the world's first "climate refugees," inhabitants of the Carteret Islands just north of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. These peace-loving people are being forced to find a new homeland. The film examines how and if they will be welcomed by mainland dwellers who live in a more violent society.
Sustainable Clinton, a project of the Clinton Franciscan Center for Active Nonviolence and Peacemaking (CANV), will host the presentation, one of several hundred screenings to be viewed by thousands of people in church halls, school auditoriums and college campuses nationwide this fall.. The screening will be followed by a discussion about the film and viewers will explore ways to respond to the reality of climate change and its effect on the environment.
" 'Can we remain indifferent to the problems associated with climate change?' is the question facing the world today," said Laura Anderson, coordinator of the CANV. "We cannot ignore the growing phenomenon of 'environmental refugees,' people who are forced by the degradation of their natural habitat to forsake it - and often their possessions as well - in order to face the dangers and uncertainties of forced displacement. The situation is equivalent to the crisis faced by persons displaced by war."
More and more environmental refugees are resulting from the warming planet and increased drought, wildfire, flooding, food and water stresses, disease and population displacement. It has been shown that the poor and vulnerable are disproportionately harmed by environmental degradation and climate change.
For more information call Sisters of St. Francis, 563-242-7611, or visit www.clintonfrnciscans.com.
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