Leaders of nine major faiths have presented 60 ideas for lessening carbon emissions to the United Nations after Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon singled out the religious community as key in fighting climate change. Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) Secretary General Martin Palmer said a recently convened conference in England on religion and the environment had produced more results than expected. “We knew that we were going to have 31 major commitments, such as the Church of England cutting back its energy use by 40% by 2015, or the Muslims ‘greening’ the Hajj or Jews cutting meat consumption in their community by 2015,” Palmer said. “Then, on the last day, there were 30 more commitments.” Tarek Wafik, Secretary General of the Forum of Dialogue and Partnership for Development, said Islamic countries have accepted the plan, which will involve educating an estimated three million pilgrims who go to Mecca every year about the need to lighten their carbon footsteps.

For the original document- Many Heavens, One Earth- http://www.windsor2009.org/Windsorcommitmentslayoutfinal.pdf.pdf
 
For the website- http://www.windsor2009.org/index.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-11-10-faith-climate-change_N.htm

- For many years now, Climate Today has given you a vast array of scientific climate reports, blended with political movements, new technologies, analyses, and more. This past weekend, I went to a conference with a different world view, a view for some more valid than hundreds of charts and graphs and thick reports. Perhaps it was no accident that today’s hours of research were being hopelessly stalled by a poorly functioning internet, providing the opening to share with you a more personal, more connected view to the heart.

The Symposium for Sustainable Food and Seed Sovereignty was organized by numerous Native American groups and held at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Both icy morning ceremonies began at sunrise with deeply moving prayer. Only the dedicated braved the cold and early morning hour. No pictures were taken during the ceremonies except this quick glance from afar. Two Mayan leaders in traditional dress came from Guatemala to lead us with rituals and prayers from the ancient past. Around the fire, where “the ancestors listen while the fire burns,” we were lead for an hour in a progression of incredible prayers that moved numerous people to tears. Pray for forgiveness for what we are doing to Mother Earth, for whatever anyone does to harm her. Bless our work to preserve our ancient seeds and to protect the earth. Pray for deeper understanding of what we need to do to protect our Mother Earth. Around the fire repeatedly. Slowly place the candles one by one. Burn the incense. And by the end, you were transformed into a different place, a very deep place of respect, of awareness at a visceral level- a level you can not forget.

Back to the modern ways, but with a difference. The contemporary auditorium stage has an altar on it that displays the bounty of the earth, a constant reminder of ancient ties to crops as the true source of our life. Many Native languages were spoken by the speakers from different tribes over the two days. A 19 year old activist named Erica Fernandez, now attending Stanford University, literally had people in tears as she relayed her story of environmental justice that she began when she was only twelve.

Climate change is more than an environmental concern; it is an issue of justice that merits immediate attention by world leaders. This was the message delivered repeatedly by Catholic participants in the Sept. 22 U.N. Summit on Climate Change in New York.
“It is unfair that people in developing countries pay the consequences for problems that rich countries have created,” said Elyzabeth Peredo, director of the Solon Foundation in Bolivia. As an example, she said Bolivia generates only 0.1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but melting glaciers caused by the warming effect of emissions worldwide endanger crops for small-scale farmers in communities throughout the country’s Andes mountains. Pope Benedict XVI urged world leaders to address global environmental issues “with generous courage” and reminded them that the world’s resources are to be shared by all, including poorer countries. He said “creation is under threat” and that it was everyone’s responsibility to protect the environment because “the earth is indeed a precious gift of the Creator.”
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0904237.htm

A Jewish leader called on world powers to take into account the impact on the poor of policies to prevent climate change. Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, joined a coalition of 25 faith leaders in a press conference on the eve of the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh to emphasize both the importance of combating climate change and acknowledging how those living in poverty would be affected.
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/09/23/1008102/think-of-poor-when-addressing-climate-change-jewish-leader-advises

QUOTE

“We believe that all of us, all of us, not just Muslims,
 Muslims, Christians, Jews, everybody lives on this earth, we are in the same boat,
so we have to care about this earth. All of us.”
Mahmoud Akef, Earth Mates Dialogue Centre

Eco-Islam
Islamic scholars gathered in Istanbul recently to present a seven-year action plan on global warming. Mahmoud Akef of the non-profit Earth Mates Dialogue Centre organized the action plan. Goals include climate change education, green cities and the grand mufti of Egypt even pledged to make his fatwa-issuing office in Cairo carbon-neutral. Mahmoud Akef says the inspiration comes from Islam’s sacred texts, the Koran, and the Hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. There’s a recommendation for essentially a green seal of approval, a label, that would be placed on products. What we call the Islamic label for products which is produced through an environmental friendly ways. And we call this tayba. Tayba means like Halal, like (a) label (being put) on the food. We started by establishing an organization called MACCA- Muslim Association for Climate Change Action. This organization would be responsible for implementing the plan.
And (there are plans to begin reducing) the carbon footprint of one’s trip to Mecca, not only when they go to the holy places, but also when they go back to their countries, they will start teaching the other people. The potential is huge. More than 1.3 billions of people around the world believe these values, and if they can implement these actions, I think it will help the whole earth, you know. Because the climate change- it will affect all of us.
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=09-P13-00031&segmentID=6

- Some politicians want to make climate change seem like just another environmental issue while pretending they are moral leaders. Once the impacts of climate change on food supplies alone are understood, there is no doubt that climate change is serious ethical and religious issue. - Editor
Christians see climate change as moral issue
Morality should be a spur for stronger action to fight climate change, which threatens food and water supplies for the poorest in Africa, a group of Christian activists said during United Nation climate talks. “We hear about climate change as a political issue, an environmental issue and an economic issue. We want to press the point that this is a moral issue,” said Marcia Owens, a minister in the Florida branch of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She and a group of Christian activists told Reuters they were lobbying delegates at the Aug. 21-27 U.N. talks in Ghana to work out a strong new treaty, due for completion by the end of 2009, to slow global warming. The panel projects that between 75 million and 250 million people in Africa could suffer stress on water supplies by 2020. And in some African countries, yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50 percent by 2020. “It is very easy to forget the human dimension. There are people today whose lives are being disrupted by climate change,” said John Hill, a Methodist who works for a group on economic and environmental justice with the U.S. National Council of Churches.
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnLN306198.html

-At Climate Today, we have helped some churches move to educate their congregations, but it hasn’t been easy. This may provide some inspiration. - Editor
Church book challenges congregations to year of action on climate change
A new guide from the Church of England offers church leaders a template for a year-long programme of practical action to reduce their congregations’ carbon footprints, as energy prices head upwards. The book, Don’t Stop at the Lights, has already won praise and includes sermon ideas and extensive Bible study notes drawing on ancient theological themes which aim to reconnect the church to the natural world and the roots of its faith. It inspires priests to make churches beacons in their community, offering case studies linked to the Church’s year.
For the book- http://www.chpublishing.co.uk/2394262
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.book.challenges.congregations.to.year.of.action.on.climate.change/21290.htm

Signaling a significant departure from the Southern Baptist Convention’s official stance on global warming, 44 Southern Baptist leaders have decided to back a declaration calling for more action on climate change, saying its previous position on the issue was “too timid.” The largest denomination in the United States after the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, with more than 16 million members, is politically and theologically conservative. The declaration is the outgrowth of soul-searching by Jonathan Merritt, 25, the spokesman for the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative. Mr. Merritt said that for years he had been “an enemy of the environment.” Then, he said, he had an epiphany. “I learned that God reveals himself through Scripture and in general through his creation, and when we destroy God’s creation, it’s similar to ripping pages from the Bible,” Mr. Merritt said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/us/10baptist.html?hp

Two senior Church of England Bishops have called on people to give up carbon rather than chocolate for Lent before the 40 days of Lent begins on Wednesday February 6. Lent is the time when Christians traditionally give up such things as sweets, chocolate or alcohol. This year they will be asked to think about their own carbon footprint and follow a few simple steps designed to help cut CO2 emissions. They include:
* avoiding plastic bags
* giving the dishwasher a day off
* insulating the hot water tank
* checking the house for drafts with a ribbon and buying draught excluders
Those taking part in the Carbon Fast will be asked to remove one light bulb from a prominent place in the home and live without it for 40 days. On the final days of the Fast they will be asked to replace it with a low-energy bulb which over its lifetime will save 60kg of carbon dioxide per year and up to £60. This year we are inviting people to join us in a Carbon Fast. It is the poor who are already suffering the effects of climate change. To carry on regardless of their plight is to fly in the face of Christian teaching.
For a copy of Tearfund’s Carbon Fast visit www.tearfund.org
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/02/05/ealent105.xml