Opening panel – The speakers are: Grand Mufti of Egypt Kusum Vyas- Hindu environmentalist from India Rev Sally Bingham, founder of Interfaith Power and Light Master Yang, Daoist, China Bishop Walter Thomas, New Psalmist Baptist Church, Baltimore, US Bishop of London, Richard Chartres Windsor, 4th November Dear All, I’m writing from the end of a remarkable conference, at which the Secretary-General of the United Nations and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh met with religious leaders from more faiths than I knew existed, ahead of the Copenhagen Climate Change conference next month. There were two main goals: to make clear to governments that religious communities support strong action next month; and to try to catalyze deeper and more substantive change, within and between religious communities, over the next seven years and beyond. (more…)
Tag Archives | Copenhagen
Tisha B’Av, Copenhagen and Climate Change
Rabbi Yedidya (Julian) Sinclair, Director of Education, Jewish Climate Initiative, and Hazon Rabbinical Scholar Recently I was asked an interesting question by an Israel environmental leader. “I was a bit surprised and somewhat dismayed,” he began, “to find out that the date chosen for the Copenhagen Planning Seminar was also Tisha B’Av.” A bit of background for the uninitiated: 1. The Copenhagen Summit in December is a gathering of world leaders that aims to bash out a successor agreement to the Kyoto protocol that will limit CO2 emissions going forward. It is widely seen as a critical moment in the global effort to address climate change. 2. The particular Seminar spoken about here is a gathering of Israeli environmental NGO’s that will propose an Israeli position for the Copenhagen Summit. Israel has not so far taken an official line on global warming. That is probably about to change. The new environment minister, Gilad Erdan, is one of the very few in recent years not to see the appointment as a consolation prize for not receiving a “real” ministerial job.” Erdan gets it. He understands that the environment really matters. The Tisha B’Av seminar includes a meeting with him. 3. Tisha B’Av […]
Copenhagen, Climate Change, and Jewish Fast Days
by Rabbi Yedidya (Julian) Sinclair, Hazon Senior Rabbinical Scholar The Copenhagen Summit in December is a gathering of world leaders that aims to bash out a successor agreement to the Kyoto protocol that will limit CO2 emissions going forward. It is widely seen as a critical moment in the global effort to address the threat of climate change. There is a remarkable groundswell of concern and activism in the world that is building in advance of this event. People everywhere are raising their voices, demanding that, this time, our leaders do right by the earth and by our children. In the Jewish community too, there is an awakening of passion and activism around this issue. The Shabbat of Parshat Noach, October 23rd-4th has been declared Global Climate Healing Shabbat and Hazon will shortly be going public with a Seven Year Plan for the people to address climate change and sustainability. How can the current period in the Jewish calendar help us to understand what’s going on and what’s at stake? We are in the middle of the three weeks that are bounded by the fasts of the 17th Tammuz until Tisha B’Av. Let’s first note they are two out of […]
