Baha’i delegates Arthur L Dahl and Tahirih Naylor in conversation in Windsor Castle with HRH Prince Philip, ARC Secretary-General Martin Palmer, and UN Secretary-General HE Ban Ki-moon

Is this, as has been suggested, “the biggest civil society movement on climate change in history”?

Representatives of the Bahá’í International Community joined some 200 delegates from nine major faith communities and a range of environmental organisations in Windsor on Monday 2 November  and Tuesday 3 November to commit to long-term practical action to save the environment

The three-day event, which concluded today, was sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), which was founded in 1985 by Prince Phillip.

Leading representatives from the Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Daoist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Shinto and Sikh communities announced a huge range of environmental initiatives to help combat the impact of climate change.

At the heart of the gathering was a ceremony in Windsor Castle during which HRH Prince Philip and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented certificates to representatives of 31 faith-based projects, ranging from the development of an Islamic environmental labelling system and the greening of the Hajj – the Muslim pilgrimage – to the Sikh plan to urge gurdwaras – Sikh temples – to recycle, compost, use green energy, use eco-stoves, start rainwater harvesting, purchase reusable plates and cups.

The Bahá’í representatives presented a plan that focuses on using a system of regional training institutes to encourage within the worldwide Bahá’í community “acts of service related to environmental sustainability.”

“Bahá’ís believe that religious belief and spirituality lie at the foundation of human motivation and behaviour,” said Tahirih Naylor, a Bahá’í International Community representative to the United Nations who was one of two Bahá’í delegates to the Windsor event.

“So we believe that efforts to change harmful human behaviour – such those actions that contribute to global warming or environmental degradation – can be greatly facilitated by processes that lead to a better understanding of our own spirituality, and of humanity’s relationship with nature. And it is also from such understanding that action naturally arises.”

In his speech at the Windsor Castle ceremony, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said,, “I have long believed that when governments and civil society work toward a common goal, transformational change is possible. Faiths and religions are a central part of that equation.

“Indeed, the world’s faith communities occupy a unique position in discussions on the fate of our planet and the accelerating impacts of climate change,” said Mr. Ban.

Delegates also met in a series of plenary sessions and workshops at Windsor’s Harte and Garter Hotel to discuss how they can reach a new level of collaboration in the face of global warming, water shortages, deforestation, and other environmental threats.

“Climate change is complex and dealing with it requires us to change at many levels,” said UN Assistant Secretary-General Olav Kjørven on Monday.

“It requires a change of ethos. Religions have an unparalleled ability to reach out to people at the grassroots and to touch hearts and minds. Religious institutions are the third largest actors in international markets. Environmentally friendly purchasing decisions by them would have a huge impact across the world.”

Tony Juniper, special adviser to the Prince of Wales’ Rainforests Project and former executive director of the Friends of the Earth, likewise emphasized the important role that religions can play.

“Scientific rationalism gave rise to good science, which in turn gave rise to strong political arguments for cleaning up the environment,” said Mr. Juniper,

“As a result, governments dealt with acid rain and other environmental threats. But these changes were only superficial,” he said.

“Purely scientific rationalism cannot change our fundamental understanding of who we are and how we should live. Religion and science must work together to bring about a fundamental transformation in our relationship to the world. This kind of change needs a spiritual foundation,” he said.

Delegates process into Windsor Castle.

The Baha’i World News Service has more on this.

[Picture courtesy of Alliance of Religions and Conservation]

Technorati Tags: ARC, UNDP, Baha’i, Windsor Castle, Prince Philip, environment, climate change, religion, faiths, social action

The Baha’i International Community has become a partner in a UN sponsored programme to address climate change and environmental stability.

According to the Baha’i World News Service, the programme, which is co-sponsored by the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), seeks to promote lifestyle changes that will help slow global warming and other environmental problems during a seven-year period from 2010 to 2017.

Tahirih Naylor, a representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations, will join leading members of the world’s other religions at Windsor Castle next week for the formal launch of the ARC/UNDP programme.

“We are very pleased to join with other world religions and with the United Nations in this inspiring initiative to promote lasting change in the way people interact with the environment,” Ms Naylor said.

“The significance of this effort is the manner in which it capitalises on the strengths of faith communities – such as their strong grassroots network and the transformative power of religious belief – to address environmental problems at their foundation, which is human behaviour.

“One of the long-term goals of the Baha’i Faith is to promote the positive transformation of individuals and communities, and to this end we already sponsor thousands of study circles, children’s classes, devotional gatherings, and youth groups in more than 180 countries.

“We look forward to learning more about the efforts of other faith communities and are confident that we can make a useful contribution to this exciting program,” said Ms Naylor.

The 2-4 November Windsor Castle event will be hosted by HRH Prince Philip and will feature a keynote speech by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Arthur Lyon Dahl, former UNDP deputy assistant executive director, author and a well-known specialist on coral reefs and biodiversity, will join Ms Naylor in representing the Baha’i International Community at the launch.

More than 200 faith and secular leaders are expected to be present, and many faith groups will announce commitments to practical initiatives, like the Baha’i plan, to meet global environmental challenges.

“The worldwide Baha’i community has long been involved in promoting sustainable development and in creating small-scale projects that include environmental conservation,” Ms Naylor said.

“This initiative is especially exciting because of the way it concretely addresses the underlying attitudes and values that are at the root of many of humanity’s environmental problems.”

Baha’is around the world will be encouraged to explore what the Baha’i sacred writings say about the relationship between humans and the environment and to take practical action as individuals and local communities.

“In our experience, connecting the hearts of people to sacred writings is the best way to provide the motivation for social change and action,” Ms Naylor said.

Baha’is everywhere engage in a coherent framework of action that promotes the spiritual development of the individual and channels the collective energies of the Baha’i community towards service to humanity.

These activities include the systematic study of the Baha’i writings in small groups to build capacity for service, devotional gatherings aimed at connecting the hearts of participants with the Creator; neighbourhood children’s classes that offer lessons that lay the foundations of a noble and upright character; and groups that work to assist young teens to navigate a crucial stage of their lives and become empowered to direct their energies toward the advancement of civilisation.

The full story can be found on the Baha’i World News Service.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, ARC, UNDP, environment, climate change, Windsor Castle, Prince Phillip, Ban Ki-moon

In a letter issued in advance of the G20 meeting in London, political leaders are called upon to consider the moral issues at the root of the current financial crisis, and to pay special attention to the needs of poor, marginalised and vulnerable people: “to forget their needs would be to compound regrettable past failures with needless future injustices”.

Attention is drawn to promises made by the international community in “easier times” which now risk being “postponed by the pressing concern to rectify market failures”.

“Even in these difficult times we strongly urge the leaders of the G20 to hold fast to the commitments they have made to the world’s poorest people,” says the statement.

The 31 signatories to the letter include the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom along with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of Westminster and the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth.

Recognising that people “who have lost jobs, savings, or homes, are in need of immediate help” the statement stresses the need for the G20 to fulfill its promises to the poor, citing World Bank figures that “53 million more people could fall into absolute poverty “ as a result of the world financial crisis, the faith leaders’ hope was that “poorer countries would be allowed to trade their way to prosperity”.

The text of the letter reads:

“We write as religious leaders who share a belief in God and the dignity of human life. We wish to acknowledge with realism and humility the severity of the current economic crisis and the sheer complexity of the global and local challenge faced by political leaders. We pray for the leaders of the G20 as they prepare to meet in London this week. They, and we, have a crucial role to play in recovering that lost sense of balance between the requirements of market mechanisms that help deliver increased prosperity, and the moral requirement to safeguard human dignity, regardless of economic or social category.

Many people are suffering as a result of the economic crisis. The World Bank estimates that 53 million more people could fall into absolute poverty as a result of the crisis. The likelihood is that more will face significant hardship before it comes to an end, and those who are already poor suffer the most. Along with the leaders of the G20 we all have a duty to look at the faces of the poor around the world and to act with justice, to think with compassion, and to look with hope to a sustainable vision of the future.

We wish therefore to draw attention to some of the promises made by the international community in recent times – with our wholehearted support – that risk being postponed by the pressing concern to rectify market failures. We need to be properly conscious that all communities include, and must pay special attention to the needs of, poor, marginalised and vulnerable people. To forget their needs would be to compound regrettable past failures with needless future injustices.

Some aspects of this crisis will require technical economic solutions. However those solutions alone will not be enough to address all the questions that we face. At the roots of this crisis lie important moral issues.

We are concerned for people and the work they do. We believe there is a need to consider the aspirations of both rich and poor; to examine our own expectations and how realistic they are; and to root future global patterns of work in our understanding of human dignity. We recognize that people who have lost jobs, savings, or homes, or who now live with the worry of what the future might bring are in need of immediate help. Their hope is for sustainable employment and not continuing job insecurity.

The international community has made important commitments to the developing world. The Millennium Development Goals are of fundamental importance and cannot now be forgotten. Even in these difficult times we strongly urge the leaders of the G20 to hold fast to the commitments they have made to the world’s poorest people. We still need to find ways to enable poorer countries to trade their way to prosperity. We hold that promises made to the poor are especially sacred.

When we spend now, we have to pay later. This also applies when we use up the resources of the natural environment. Morally binding commitments to cut carbon emissions and so to slow the devastating effects of man-made climate change have been made in recent years. They should not be forgotten or postponed. We call on the whole of the international community to hold firm to commitments already made. Most recognise that even more radical commitments will need to be agreed in the near future.

The leaders of the G20 countries are concerned to recover stability in the global economy. We support those efforts. And we pray that as they deliberate they will be mindful of the need to protect the vulnerable from unintended injustice and to respect the commitments they made in easier times.

Dr Musharraf Hussain Azhari
Chief Imam and Executive Officer, Karimia Institute
Chair, Christian-Muslim Forum
Dr Mohammed Abdul Bari
Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain
Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield
Head, Movement for Reform Judaism
Dr Girdhari Bhan
President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (UK)
Mr Anil Bhanot
General Secretary, Hindu Council UK
Mr Steve Clifford
General Director, Evangelical Alliance
Mr Khurshid Drabu
Project Director, Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, UK (MINAB)
Mr Henry Grunwald
President, Board of Deputies of British Jews
Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian
Primate, Armenian Orthodox Church of Great Britain
Mr Sanjay Jagatia
Secretary-General, National Council of Hindu Temples UK (NCHT)
The Most Revd Dr Idris Jones
Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway
Primus, Scottish Episcopal Church
Mr Ramesh Kallidai
General Secretary, Hindu Forum of Britain
Sayyed Nadeem Kazmi
Founder & Director, The Britslam Partnership.
Commissioner Elizabeth Matear
Moderator of the Free Churches Group
Ayatollah Sayyid Fazel Milani
Al-Khoei Foundation
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra
Chairman, Religions for Peace, UK
The Most Revd Barry Morgan
Bishop of Llandaff,
Archbishop, The Church in Wales
His Eminence Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor
Archbishop of Westminster, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the UK
Mrs Ravinder Kaur Nijjar
Sikh Community, Scotland
His Eminence Keith Patrick Cardinal O’Brien
Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, President of the Scottish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Mr Jitu Patel
Chairman, Baps Swaminarayan Sanstha
Rabbi Danny Rich
Chief Executive, Liberal Judaism
Dr Nawal Prinja and the Rt Revd Tom Butler
Sir Jonathan Sacks
Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala Nayaka Thera
Sangha Nayaka of Great Britain
Head of the Sri Lankan Sangha Sabha of Great Britain
Head of the London Buddhist Vihara
The Most Revd & Rt Hon Dr. John Sentamu
The Archbishop of York
Dr Indarjit Singh, CBE
Director, Network of Sikh Organisations UK
Dr Natubhai Shah MBBS, PhD
Chair, Jain Network
Sir Sigmund Sternberg, KCSG
Co-Founder, Three Faiths Forum,
Senior Advisor, Community of Religious Leaders, World Economic Forum,
Patron, International Council of Christians and Jews,
Vice President, World Congress of Faiths
The Most Revd and Rt Hon Dr. Rowan Williams
The Archbishop of Canterbury

In its contributions to the UN Climate Change conference in Poznan, Poland, this week, the Bahá’ís have released a working paper, ‘Redefining the Challenge of Climate Change‘. “The search for solutions to climate change has revealed the limits of traditional technological and policy approaches and has raised difficult questions about justice, equity, responsibility and obligation,” says the paper.

Representatives of the Bahá’í International Community have also participated in two side events at the conference, both of which were aimed at addressing the moral and ethical issues that stem from global warming. Mr Peter Adriance, pictured second from right above, spoke on a panel discussion on the topic “Summoning the courage: Arising to the ethical challenge of climate change.” In his remarks, Mr. Adriance stressed the importance of embracing the concept of the oneness of humanity as the overriding ethical and moral principle in addressing climate change. Bahá’í representatives also participated in a daylong seminar.

“The work of the United Nations conference is at a crucial point,” said Tahirih Naylor, a Bahá’í International Community representative to the United Nations, who headed the Baha’i delegation in Poznan. “And our goal in our contributions here is to encourage world leaders and leaders of thought to include a consideration of the moral and ethical impact of the decisions they are making.”

The two-week Poznan conference runs through until 12 December. Government ministers and other top officials from nearly 200 nations will participate in a two-day, high-level segment aimed at completing key elements of an ambitious global climate change deal next year. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to address the conference and will appeal to the gathered leaders to not let the food, financial and other current crises dissuade them from taking urgent action on climate change.

Read the full story at Bahá’í World News Service.