Between November 6th and 18th, 2022, the UN climate conference COP 27 will take place on the Sinai Peninsula, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Religious communities and religious leaders have a key role to play in addressing climate change and climate justice, which requires deep transformation within society. The knowledge of what changes are critically needed to diminish long-term harm to the planet is readily available. However, bringing about change in action demands deeper changes in attitude, a change of heart. This has been the domain of religions for millennia. Religions are sources of inspiration for the transformation of heart and the ensuing changes of attitude.
To support, challenge and inspire discussions during COP 27 at Sharm El Sheikh, interfaith climate events will take place in Sharm El Sheik, London, Jerusalem, and elsewhere that will be heart-stirring, transformative and a moment of inspiration for religious communities and for humanity. Religious leaders will call for a reexamination of deep-seated attitudes and for identifying ways to transform these attitudes for the wellbeing of Earth, our common home.
Mount Sinai is a mountain whose memory and meaning loom large as a place of revelation in the collective consciousness of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and others. As an ancient sacred space, it was the site of prophetic experience, and receiving God’s message, for the prophets Moses and Elijah in all three Abrahamic traditions, and the prophet Muhammed in the Muslim tradition. COP 27 taking place in Sinai can remind humanity of our sacred responsibility to care for God’s creation.
Donate to Support this ProjectWe come to Sinai in a movement of repentance and quest. We seek a new vision for humanity and its endangered existence, and we seek to receive and amplify a message of life-sustaining living and habits that humanity needs to hear today. In this spirit, the project partners will bring together premier religious leaders from the world’s major religions to put forth a prophetic interreligious call to action: “Ten Universal Principles for Climate Justice.”
Interfaith Climate Events at COP 27
The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD), together with partners, is organizing four multifaith climate events at COP 27, from Monday, Nov. 14 through Wednesday, Nov. 16 . The events will incorporate concrete examples of how religious communities are actively meeting the climate challenge, and feature concrete initiatives that translate the broader spiritual practices into action.
On Monday, Nov. 14 at 9 am, ICSD is organizing an interfaith climate event with religious leaders speaking, in the Israeli exhibition within the Blue Zone. Speakers include H.E. Metropolitan Serafim Kykotis, Sr. Maureen Goodman, James Sternlicht, and Rabbi Yonatan Neril.
In addition, ICSD is organizing three press conference events in the press conference space for NGOs in the blue zone at COP 27, in the Luxor Taba Area B. If you have a badge to enter the blue zone, we invite you to attend any or all of them.
Donate to Support this Project| Mon, Nov. 14th | 10:30 – 11:00 am | Faith Leaders Share Ten Universal Principles for Climate Justice |
| Tue, Nov. 15th | 10:00 – 10:30 am | Religious Figures Share Concrete Steps for Climate Action Within Faith Communities. Speakers include Bishop Andreas Holmberg of Stockholm, Rev. Susan Hendershot, president of Interfaith Power and Light, Dr. Fachruddin Mangunjaya, and Rabbi Yonatan Neril. |
| Wed, Nov. 16th | 11:00 – 11:30 am | Bringing Religion to Bear on the Climate Emergency. Speakers include H.E. Metropolitan Serafim Kykotis, Paul Beckwith, Regina Valdez. |
As world leaders and climate activists meet in November for the U.N.’s COP27, preachers and congregations can add their voices to the calls for climate justice.
In an effort to encourage clergy to teach and preach on climate change during COP 27, we have made available the following free resources:
- Abraham and Torah teachings on Climate Change
- COP27 – Solidarity And Endurance For Climate Justice: Malachi 4 And Luke 21
- For materials on Islam and climate change, click here.
- For materials on Hinduism and climate change, click here.
Who: The London climate repentance ceremony will involve world religious leaders, primarily from the Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders.
Follow Up and Outreach:
Following the Sinai event, we intend to launch a series of educational initiatives that will flow from it. The materials produced by religious leaders participating in the event will be converted into study materials, that will serve the religious communities and the community of climate activists, in special seminars and ongoing teaching situations.
Learn more about the Sinai Climate Partnership for Houses of Worship
Founding Partners: The event will be coordinated by a coalition of organizations:
- The Elijah Interfaith Institute and its Board of World Religious Leaders brings together some of the world’s most prominent religious figures from Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and the Religions of India.
- The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development reveals the connection between religion and ecology and mobilizes people to act.
- The Peace Department is a US non-profit designed to solve global coordination failures by making philanthropy and impact investing effective and scalable.
- Climate activist Yosef Abramowitz serves as special advisor to the initiative.
Other Partners: The UN Environment Program’s Faith for Earth Initiative works to strategically engage with faith-based organizations and partner with them to collectively achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and fulfill the objectives of the 2030 Agenda.
Jerusalem Interfaith Climate Declaration
Goals of the Interfaith Climate Events
- Inspire and unleash the power of religions, religious leaders and faith communities as change agents for climate action and as sources for inspiring and motivating discussions among politicians and civil bodies.
- Motivate action among religious communities and the wider public to curb climate change.
- Invite media to cover religious leaders’ advocacy in combating climate change.
- Promote a coalition of religious leaders to work together for climate action.
- Generate new faith-inspired climate education materials for broad use.
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