2023-11-08 18:31:56
Ahead of the COP28 summit in Abu Dhabi, interfaith leaders have signed a plea calling for urgent action on climate change.
Fr Jinu Jacob, Vatican City, Christopher Wells – Abu Dhabi
Ahead of the COP28 summit to be held in Dubai, a meeting of various religious leaders held in Abu Dhabi signed a request for urgent action once morest climate change. The representative of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Professor Muhammad Al-Duwaini, and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin led the delegation of thirty religious leaders.
The appeal calls for accelerating the energy transition, protecting the earth, and moving towards environmentally friendly and recycling lifestyles. Jewish, Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu leaders and leaders of other major religions participated in the rally. Before signing the document, all the leaders planted the Gaff tree, the national tree of the United Arab Emirates, as an example. Then the leaders handed over the document to Sultan Al Jaber, the President-elect of COP28. He said that the interfaith gathering gives a lot of importance to the COP28 summit.
Common themes discussed at the meeting included the moral duty to care for God’s creation, the need to work together to combat climate change, the urgency of the climate change crisis, and the need to take decisive action to achieve climate goals. Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that the climate crisis can be solved through lifestyle changes.
The leaders all pointed to greed and selfishness as the root causes of the environmental crisis. The delegation also called on rich countries – especially those bearing the greatest responsibility for climate change – to commit to helping poorer countries disproportionately affected by the crisis.
The meeting also highlighted the important responsibility religious leaders have to raise awareness of climate issues in their communities, as over 80% of the world’s population is of some religious faith.
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