Quakers host multi-faith event on climate change
Related pages: Environment, Many Heavens
The United Nations Assistant Secretary General, Olav Kjørven and leading religious and scientific figures will join people of all faiths on 4 November at Many Heavens, One Earth: Faiths, the Environment and Copenhagen, a major London event hosted by the Quakers in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate conference.
Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations Secretary General, will be attending a private meeting with global religious leaders from 2 to 4 November at Windsor Castle, organised by the United Nations Development Programme and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC). Many Heavens, One Earth: Faiths, the Environment and Copenhagen is a public meeting that follows on from the private meeting.
Many Heavens, One Earth is public multi-faith event, open to everyone, on Wednesday 4 November, 7.00pm to 9.00pm at Friends House (opposite Euston Station). Run in conjunction with the United Nations, it will celebrate the commitment of faith communities to care for the environment. This will be an opportunity to question leading speakers about climate change, interspersed with an imaginative mixture of music, dance and dramatic readings, drawing on Hindu, Sufi and Christian traditions.
Speakers will include Olav Kjørven, the United Nations Assistant Secretary General; Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt; and the Revd Canon Sally Bingham who works with the Regeneration Project and the Inter Faith Power and Light campaign in the United States to mobilise a national religious response to global warming. Panellists include Nigel Savage, of Jewish environmental organisation, Hazon; Helen Rowlands from Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre and Rob Sautter from WWF. Martin Palmer of ARC will chair the discussion.
Alison Prout, Environment Programme Manager of Quaker Peace and Social Witness said: "Many Heavens, One Earth comes at a crucial time as world leaders prepare for the Copenhagen climate conference. This evening aims to bring together faith communities and to provide a visible platform for their positive action and to encourage our leaders to work for a strong and fair deal at Copenhagen."
Attendance is free but it is essential to register at http://www.quaker.org.uk/manyheavens
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Notes to editor:
- Media are welcome to attend Many Heavens, One Earth: Faiths, the Environment and Copenhagen. Please register by emailing annev@quaker.org.uk
- Media queries and requests for interviews from 22 October to 1 November please contact Alison Prout on 020 7663 1035 or alisonp@quaker.org.uk
- For more information on the Windsor event please see http://www.windsor2009.org
- For Quakers’ recent statement on climate change see http://www.quaker.org.uk/quaker-response-crisis-climate-change
- There are around 500,000 Quakers worldwide and approximately 25,000 people attend Quaker Meetings for Worship in Great Britain, and there are more than 475 Meetings.
- Quakers are known formally as the Religious Society of Friends.
