Well, last week was an interesting one. Monday I drove over to Windsor (yes, Windsor where the Castle is) to follow the “Many Heavens, One Earth” celebration of environmental commitments by major faith communities.
I had been asked to provide material for the story about the event that appeared on the Baha’i World News Service.
Who was there?
Christian bishops, Daoist monks, Shinto priests, the Grand Mufti of Egypt Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Muslim imams, Jewish rabbis, Hindu priests and environmentalists, a senior Jesuit, ecological Sikhs, representatives of the Baha’i International Community, representatives of a wide range of environmental organisations, and UN Assistant Secretary-General Olav Kjørven.
The celebration was the result of a partnership between the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) and the UN Development Program (UNDP). Opening the celebration, ARC Secretary-General Martin Palmer said this was the first time that the UN had partnered with religion at this level.
“The religions are not here to tell others what to do,” he said, “but to pledge to act.”
Olav Kjørven contrasted the political horse-trading that was taking place in the political negotiations about combatting climate change with the spirit of collaboration and willingness to build partnerships and make commitments that was evident amongst the faith representatives in Windsor.
To the Castle
On Tuesday the representatives of the faith communities and the environmental organisations took part in a procession from Windsor High Street up into the Castle.
Led by drums and banners, played and carried by members of the Boys’ and Girl’s Brigade, we trooped up the hill into the inner areas of Windsor Castle.
Certificates
Inside, in the Waterloo Chamber, HRH Prince Philip and HE Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General presented certificates to those from the nine faith communities who were launching a total of 31 long-term commitments.
All Daoist Temples in China will be solar powered; faith-based eco-labelling systems will be set up in Islam, Hinduism and Judaism; all types of religious buildings will be “greened”; sacred forests will be protected; ethical investment policies will be developed; sacred books will be printed on environmentally-friendly paper; educational programmes will be developed through the faiths’ major role in both formal and informal education.
What about the Baha’i commitment?
L to R: Arthur L Dahl and Tahirih Naylor of BIC talk to HRH Prince Philip, Martin Palmer, HE Ban Ki-moon
Shoghi Effendi wrote many years ago about the relationship between the human heart and the environment:
We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.
The Bahá’í International Community has worked for more than 20 years to contribute to discourses on issues related to the environment.
The Baha’i contribution to the 31 faith commitments to protect the planet will be to raise the Baha’i community’s consciousness and to encourage Baha’is to engage in acts of service related to environmental sustainability through a specially developed Training Institute course.
As the BIC statement for the ARC-UNDP summit says, the course will:
explore the relationship of humans to the environment as articulated in the Bahá’í Sacred Writings. This course would not simply be aimed at increasing knowledge on the subject but, as mentioned above, would build the capacity of participants to engage in acts of service related to environmental sustainability. Similarly, the programs for children and junior youth would include material on climate change and the contribution that the younger generation can make to address the climate crisis.
In his speech 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,” he said.
Hearing the Voices of Creation
After the speeches and certificates two or three hundred of us sat down to a vegan lunch with Prince Philip and the UN Secretary-General. It was good, but hasty. I was still eating when a bugle, sounded by a guardsman from the gallery, announced the end of lunch and we all trooped back into the Waterloo Chamber for “Hearing the Voices of Creation” a wondrous presentation in music, dance, drama, story and ritual.
Blessed is the spot
Prince Philip and Ban Ki-moon were present for the the first part of the presentation, which included a passage from the Baha’i scriptures, read by Sally Magnusson:
Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified.
Change of role
I have to confess to having been nervous about wearing a media badge at this summit – a first time for me. I’m not a natural story teller, nor am I a trained journalist. I’ve plenty of experience representing the Baha’i community at events such as these, but it’s something else to be taking notes and thinking about how to write it up.
I’m glad to say that I was not responsible for the final output. Experienced journalists wrote the Baha’i World News Service story. I was able to provide “colour” and quotes.
But it was a great privilege to be there.
[All photos courtesy of ARC.]
Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, ARC, UNDP, environment, climate change, faiths, religion, Windsor Castle, Ban Ki-moon, Prince Philip
Related posts:
- Baha’i – one of nine faiths contributing to ARC statement for Copenhagen climate summit
- Climate change debate spurs warm feelings amongst religious leaders
- Atheist scientist debases religion and science in the cause of environmentalism
- Dr Tarek Heggy visits UK Baha’i Centre
- From growth to resilience: is this the world’s future?
{ 5 comments }
FYI
Love, Dixie
Hi Barney – Thanks for these observations which are making the rounds through your loyal readership here in the US and elsewhere. (A link was passed on to me from a Baha’i friend here.) Who says you’re not a reporter? Keep it up. I like your reporting style!
Yes, it is exciting to see the faiths rallying around the issues of the environment in new and renewed ways. And it is essential that they do all they can. Working together creatively within and across sectors is the only way we’ll be able to turn around the dilemma we’ve created.
By the way, your readers may be interested to know of a study course on “the scientific and spiritual dimensions of climate change” created by a Baha’i, Christine Muller, and available here: http://www.bcca.org/ief/climate/ssdcc0.html. It takes a multi-faith perspective on the issue and integrates it with the science. It’s been posted on the International Environment Forum (IEF) site with the hope that folks will use it and provide feedback for its continual improvement. It fits nicely into the scheme of things coming out of the Windsor events.
Also, related stories and links on faith and environment can be found on the 2009 IEF conference blog, which not only contains reports and comments from the conference but occasional related posts made since then: http://www.iefconf2009.wordpress.com.
Best,
Peter
This piece about the environment is very hopeful. Thank you. (And I think you’d be a really good journalist!)
Great job, Barney. The BWNS was surely enlivened by your contributions, and the ARC-UNDP publication is beautiful: http://www.windsor2009.org/Windsorcommitmentslayoutfinal.pdf.pdf
The Training Institute is bringing a new creation into existence. Men and women who can more clearly reflect on both their individual development and their contribution to society’s development. As we begin to perceive the organic unity between individual utility and the common good, we may see the emergence of new types of discourse on environmental problems.
A commenter on the New York Times’ dot.earth blog (which also covered the ARC-UNDP summit) said that our environmental problems fundamentally come down to a problem of selfishness. If so, then the Training Institute is uniquely able to address the roots of the environmental crisis.
Thank you all for your very kind comments. It was such a wonderful thing to see the faith communities, secular environmental NGOs and the UN all working together to make these pledges. Great work by ARC to pull it all together.
Faith communities are big players: more than 50% of education in the world is provided by faith communities. Faith communities are the third largest operators in the markets for goods and services. They have real clout!
Now the challenge is to deliver.
Comments on this entry are closed.