Asia Pacific Women of Faith Network: Climate Change Seminar Welcome Message

The Asia Conference on Religion and Peace will present an online seminar on climate change issues, to be held Tuesday, November 29th, 2022 2:00 PM (Japan Standard Time),hosted by Asia Pacific Women of Faith Network. (Click Here for Your Local Time) Here, a message of Welcome to the Seminar is announced.

Asia-Pacific Women of Faith Network (APWoFN) expresses deep gratitude to the participants in our seminar, “Inspired by Our Faiths and Spiritualities to Move Forward with Climate Action.”

As Women of Faith from the Asia Pacific region, we are increasingly aware of the severe threat that escalating climate change poses to our families, communities, and countries. Our concept is to share ideas, hopes, and practical proposals to enable us to make beneficial contributions aligned with our faiths.

The global climate change crisis is upon us, with solutions requiring urgent changes to human behaviour. The World Food Program currently estimates 345 million people face acute food insecurity across 82 countries, driven by conflict, climate, and COVID. Over 100 people were killed in the Philippines by a recent typhoon, while Australia is experiencing record-breaking droughts and fires, followed by extreme rainfall and flooding. Extreme monsoon rains and melting glaciers flooded one-third of Pakistan’s land area in August due to global warming, and three months later, much land is still underwater, like a large lake. Over 33 million people were affected, with 300,000 people reportedly being infected with malaria and many people forced to live on water polluted by drowned livestock and contaminants. The cost of this climate damage is estimated at over USD$ 40 billion.

Climate change is now directly linked to human rights issues. COP27 discussed the need for wealthy polluting nations to pay for the loss and damage caused to mainly poorer countries worst affected by global warming. Nevertheless, the gap between advanced and developing countries continues to grow.

The issue of climate change is taking its toll on those who are in the most vulnerable situations. About 30.7 million people worldwide are forced to migrate due to this problem. Climate change is considered a human rights issue that endangers life. “Climate change” and “human rights” seem to be two different standpoints, but they are closely related.

We must focus on human rights and climate change actions that help vulnerable people. Our genuine commitment will be challenged after the closing of the COP.

As human rights issues and climate change are connected, so is the power of faith to help solve climate change issues. According to the UN environment program, faith is engaged with states and non-state actors in a concerted effort to promote ethical and moral motivations to change climate change behavior at all levels.

Research has been conducted to determine how religion (faith) relates to climate change. According to the Columbia Climate School Climate, Earth and Society’s State of the Planet,
“As a marker of identity that transcends national borders, religion influences many environmentally relevant behaviours. Thus, understanding its role is key to tackling environmental challenges that are fundamentally transnational.” (How Religion Influences Our Relationship With the Environment (Vegard Skirbekk, Alexander De Sherbinin, and Susana Adamo, October 15, 2020)

We must pay close attention to how the growing importance of religion will be reflected in climate policy and the future evolution of the climate system. As religious leaders, it will be essential to take the initiative to identify ways to effectively convey climate change issues and risks within our faith traditions and to encourage interreligious and religious-non-religious cooperation in addressing future global environmental challenges.

We hope this seminar strengthens bonds of familiarity, trust, and active engagement between diverse faith leaders, religious and secular policymakers, and experts on climate change.

Finally, we hope it will inspire us to consider what we can do today for climate change issues.

The power of acknowledging that we are part of the problem is that it means we can be part of the solution.

Seminar Objectives

➤ Developing a clear understanding of how multireligious actors can take a range of actions that can leverage positive influence to address climate change challenges across our region.
➤ Strengthening bonds of familiarity, trust, and active engagement between diverse faith leaders, and between religious and secular policymakers and the experts on climate change.
➤ Building a religious network for specific activities (and learning exchanges) related to climate change.