The Archdiocese of Calcutta has honoured the Loreto congregation for planting nearly 140,000 trees and adopting solar power for all their educational institutions.

Sister Sabrina Edwards, provincial of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or Loreto Sisters, on December 14 received the award for her congregation’s green efforts at the All Faith Climate Conference held at Seva Kendra, the archdiocese’s social service wing. The conference on “Caring for Our Family: An Inter-and Intra-Religion Task” was attended by representatives of all major religions in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state.

Abp Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta and Seva Kendra director Fr Franklin Menezes hosted the meet Sister Edwards recalled that the national meeting of her congregation’s Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation of Loreto schools decided in September 2016 to take up environmental issues in a serious way in India.

For this, the meet made two commitments “to spearhead climate change: one was to plant 100,000 trees by 2020 and second to make the Loreto network of schools across India carbon neutral,” Sister Edwards told Matters India on December 16.