Sustainable Living

The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change. The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home.

Pope Francis, Laudato Si', 13

Touched by God’s mercy and compassion and fired by the inspiration of the Gospel and Catherine McAuley, Sisters of Mercy work at the grassroots, national, regional and international levels to raise awareness, advocate and to implement programmes and practices that prioritise sustainable development for people and the planet.

Background

Living sustainably means that present needs are met without compromising the needs of future generations. In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis emphasises this when he says ‘We can no longer speak of sustainable development apart from intergenerational solidarity. Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others’ (LS #159). Notions of entitlement and possession are challenged in this encyclical: ‘Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us.’ (LS #159)

The Agenda 2030 of the United Nations- the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)- and  Laudato Si’ were both authored in 2015.  The goals aim to ensure that by 2030 the world will have taken huge strides to end poverty, reduce inequality, tackle climate change and stop environmental degradation. MIA-MGA MGA has identified 10 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Goals 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13,15,16) as most relevant to the mission of the Sisters of Mercy.

Background