At the St. Egidio meeting in Paris on September 23, 2024, the forum “Is the ecological transition still on the agenda?” explored the diminishing focus on environmental protection and sustainability post-pandemic. Economist Gaël Giraud* explained that extreme weather events are becoming uninsurable as reinsurers refuse coverage, leaving governments with the choice to intervene or abandon their citizens during disasters, all while public finances remain fragile. Giraud linked the retreat from ecological initiatives to geopolitical tensions and increased military funding, particularly in the U.S. due to the war in Ukraine.
Aurélien Hamelle of Total Energies added that war drives energy sovereignty, leading countries to rely on coal, while polarized political debates further hinder the ecological transition. Representatives from religious faiths, such as Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt** and Shintoist Moriyasu Ito***, emphasized the need for spiritual reflection and global shifts in individual mindsets to combat the selfishness blocking environmental progress, advocating for an “ecotheology” and ancient wisdom to foster a balanced relationship with nature.
*A French Jesuit and economist, he works at Georgetown University in Washington where he teaches economics and directs the Environmental Justice Programme, which he founded. A fellow of the International Energy Agency, he is director of research at CNR Paris, where he also teaches political theology at the Centre Sèvres. He worked as an economic consultant at the Agence française de développement and has published important studies on ecological transition.
**Regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Northern Germany (Nordkirche), in December 2018 she was elected vice-president of the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (DNK / LWF). Since November 2019, she has also been vice-president of the Bishops’ Conference of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD). She is particularly sensitive to the topic of nature and environmental preservation.
***He officiates at the Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo, built in the early 1900s in honour of the Emperor and Empress Meiji.