|PIC1|Religious leaders gathered this week in Sapporo, northern Japan, urged the Group of Eight industrial nations ahead of their summit next week to safeguard peace and security, and reinvest military funds in climate protection measures.

"Massive defence expenditures, a global total of US$1.34 trillion in 2007 ... both directly assaults the ecosystem and squanders monies that urgently need to be directed to sustainable development," they stated in their "Call from Sapporo" statement issued at the conclusion of their meeting on Thursday.

The World Religious Summit for Peace brought together around 300 delegates and 100 leaders of Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism.

The statement said, "It is a grave contradiction to advocate for a reduction of global warming gas emissions while simultaneously maintaining or even expanding military expenditure."

Leaders later presented the statement to a representative of the Japanese Government, which will host the G8 summit in Sapporo from 7 to 9 July.

They continued, "We are united in our call to the G8 to take bold action to address the threats that confront humanity, including the destruction of the environment and climate change, extreme global poverty and deteriorating food security, nuclear arms, terrorism and violent conflict."

The meeting was hosted jointly by Religions for Peace Japan and the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP).

The WCRP's co-president and general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Rev Setri Nyomi, was at the meeting.

He was quoted by the Anglican Journal as saying, "In meeting just before the G8 summit, religious leaders are clearly showing a commitment to work together to challenge global leaders in their responsibility to address critical issues of the day and to hold them accountable to promises they themselves have made in previous meetings."

The leaders proposed that countries divert funds away from military budgets to an "Earth Fund" that would be used to implement environmental protection measures and tackle poverty.

The head of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Bishop Wolfgang Huber, hosted a meeting of faith leaders in Cologne, Germany, to coincide with the G8 in 2007 and gave the opening address to this year's meeting in Sapporo.

He said he was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting: "The representatives of different religions are together taking up responsibility for shaping a fair and inclusive future.

"I hope that this commitment to the eradication of poverty and the preservation of creation will continue in view of the forthcoming G8 summits in Italy and Canada."

The Group of Eight nations are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US.