The United Planet Faith & Science Initiative puts science and religion on the same page and stage in combating climate change
Eminent faith leaders and distinguished scientists from around the world are joining forces this coming week in New York City to strategize on shifting global awareness and action on climate change. Select UPFSI members will gather for an inaugural meeting on the eve of NYC ‘Climate Week’, heralding Union Theological Seminary’s Religions for the Earth Conference, the Interfaith Summit on Climate Change, the People’s Climate March, and the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit.
The UPSFI’s inaugural meeting will take advantage of the gathering of many religious leaders and scientists brought to New York for Climate Week, and will thereafter continue to host low-carbon, video-conferenced meetings of scientists and faith leaders from their homes and offices around the world. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, and former director of NASA’s Goddard Institute, Dr. James Hansen, are among the founding faith and science leaders.
“Our approach entails low-carbon-footprint meetings among highly respected scientists and religious leaders, moving us toward a sustainable, low-carbon society. Science and religion are often assumed to have as divergent points of view. But now there is agreement among religions and between religion and science that climate change is real and will have grave consequences if ignored or inadequately addressed with words rather than action. Faith and Science agree that this is the time to act, and nations must respond to that united call.”
The record of the UPFSI’s low carbon-footprint meetings, both web-based and live, will be available for later viewing online, and spread through social media and news outlets to promote public awareness, political will, and action.
As the prominent Harvard Biologist E.O. Wilson once wrote, “Religion and science are the two most powerful forces in the world today… If there is any moral precept shared by people of all beliefs, it is that we owe ourselves and future generations a beautiful, rich, and healthful environment.” Scientific inquiry provides insight into our environment and can help us to mitigate our ecological challenges. Religion is a channel for humanity to address this crisis from a moral and ethical standpoint. Leaders of Faith and Science working together in this initiative will help converge their perspectives to galvanize a shift in human consciousness that couples practical solutions with a moral imperative.
CONTACTS:
Rabbi Yonatan Neril, Executive Director: +1-973-896-6719 or yonatan.neril@upfsi.org
Stuart Scott, Founder: +1-808-392-5188 or stuart.scott@upfsi.org
Rachel Winner, Outreach Director: rachel.winner@upfsi.org
Friday, September 19, 2014 from 1:00pm – 2:30pm
Location: 568 Lerner Hall at the Columbia University (115th & Broadway), New York City
This meeting will be attended by esteemed climate warriors like International Forum on Globalization leader Vandana Shiva and prominent Evangelical lobbyist Reverend Richard Cizik.