Climate Change: Community Organising for the Earth

GreenFaith is an interfaith coalition that inspires, educates, organizes, and mobilizes people of diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds for environmental action around the world. After 23 years in existence, it became clear to our team we needed many more people involved in order to solve the grave environmental crisis before us. We needed people actively engaging with their communities and decision-making bodies about humanity’s relationship with the Earth. It was with this in mind that GreenFaith started exploring opportunities for congregation-based community organizing.

Read more

Climate Change: Ordaining Trees to Save Them

At a time when Pope Francis is calling upon religious leaders to step up as environmental advocates, Thai Buddhist monks are answering the call. Through rituals like tree ordinations, monks are integrating Buddhist principles into the environmental movement in order to garner support from their followers and encourage sustainable practices.

Although Buddhism is typically a religion famed for its detachment from society, ecology monks believe that their religion is inherently tied to nature. With such an immense amount of influence in villages throughout Thailand, Buddhist monks are utilizing their position to add a unique moral dimension to the environmental movement. However, rituals alone are not enough.

Read more

Climate Change – Talanoa: Dialogue for Action



It’s safe to say that prior to November 2017, few Americans – and relatively few people outside the Pacific Islands – had heard of “Talanoa.” Over the past 12 months, however, Talanoa has become central to the ongoing process of United Nations global climate negotiations, and word is starting to get out that this particular framework for dialogue can be effective even when other models have failed. Talanoa’s unique approach of building empathy and common understanding allows participants to share areas of common concern and common aspirations, which in turn opens pathways for identifying steps for future action.

Read more

Where is the Heart in the Climate Justice Movement? Where is the Music?

What are our songlines in this time of climate chaos – the songs that call us to battle and navigate us to peace, the chants that bind us together, the lyrics our great grandchildren will still utter, if not our own names? The Climate Justice movement in the US is largely missing this culture, missing the song leaders.

Read more

Faith and Water: Thinking, Acting, and Living for a Healthy Future

The cycle of life is intricately linked to water. From our first nine months swimming in a womb to our ashes being immersed in a sacred river or scattered across the ocean, from the essential nectar we drink to that which turns apple seeds into apple trees, water is an integral part of our very existence. However, unlike oxygen, which silently, invisibly, maintains the breath in our lungs and the beating of our heart, water is a visible, tangible presence and one with which we interact – directly and indirectly – throughout the minutes of our day and the days of our lives.

Read more

Tasmania: April 2018

Tasmania Logo

Greetings of peace!

Our gathering for April will be to honour Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust, by a visit to the Hobart Synagogue, 59 Argyle St, Hobart. Although Yom HaShoah is commemorated on Thursday 12 April, our visit will be held on Sunday 15 April at 3.00pm. We are meeting outside the Synagogue at 2.55pm and Daniel Albert, whom many of us know, will be our guide.

Read more

Global Climate Change Week



Global Climate Change Week (GCCW) took place for the second time in October 2016. 288 academics, students, and other members of academic communities from a wide range of disciplines and countries registered including 82 from Africa, 60 from Australasia, 52 from North America, 43 from Asia, 33 from Europe, and 18 from Latin America. In this, its third year GCCW will take place on October 9-15.

Read more

Pope Supports International Climate Change Campaign



Following the 2nd Anniversary of his historic environmental encyclical, Pope Francis endorsed the Laudato Si’ Pledge campaign, which was also supported by many other Church leaders. Through the Pledge, the Global Catholic Climate Movement aims to mobilize at least 1 million Catholics to become directly engaged in turning Laudato Si into action to care for the planet.

Read more

Stay the Course of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change

Religious believers are strongly committed to act to address the challenge of climate change. This commitment to act–shared across religions–is based upon a deep understanding of its scientific and–above all–moral and religious dimensions. As a result, many religious communities strongly supported the Paris Agreement that deals with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed in December 2015 by 195 countries.

Read more

Queensland: Community Seminar on Islam and Environmental Stewardship



A seminar on Islam and Environmental Stewardship was held on 19 February at Holland Park Mosque. This was an initiative of a small group from the Brisbane Muslim community who felt the need to consider starting a conversation—and potential future action—on the view of our faith on issues of climate change that are impacting our environment and our role as stewards on earth.

Read more