“Exploring the Implications of the Ecological Civilization”

The shift from the industrial civilization to an ecological civilization was explored by five panelists in an event at the United Nations organized by the Temple of Understanding and five other organizations concerned with sustainable development.

Held at UN Headquarters on May 7, the opening speaker was Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker, a senior lecturer at Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies as well as the Divinity School and the Department of Religious Studies.

While calling for realistic visions of the future, she decried the current "gospel of wealth" and the "bankruptcy of values." Disregard for the natural world and its web of life must be reversed, she declared, noting the loss of 20,000 to 30,000 various species a year.

With the population growth from two billion to six billion people within the past century, she continued, the need to move toward an ecological civilization requires a new view of earth and institutions that will ensure the common good.

Dr. Wolfgang Sachs, a Fellow at the Institute for Climate, Energy and the Environment in Wuppertal, Germany, told the audience that Europe and England surged ahead during the 18th and 19th centuries largely because of colonization and the use of coal.

The major challenge now facing mankind, he continued, is to steer the global economy toward a sustainable path. This, he added, will require the development of institutional approaches to reduce the consumption of energy and natural resources.

Dr. Erin Lothes, a Fellow at the Center for the Study of Science and Religion
at Columbia University's Earth Institute, said that while there are many
grounds for discouragement, she has found that people of faith are scientifically literate.

Many reveal an expanding concern for neighbors, she continued. "Awareness is there," she added, "but there's a gap between ideal and practice."

Herman Greene, head of the Center for Ecozoic Studies in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, reported that the implications of the ecological civilization are being explored not only in the developed countries but in China as well.

Conferences there, he said, have begun examining threats of the human race and the need for feasible measures to follow the agricultural and industrial ages with a new stage of civilization.

The closing speaker was Mary Beth Kass of the twenty by 2020 project in Bedford, New York. As chair of the project's Energy Advisory Panel, she explained that the panel's objective is to measure the town's greenhouse gas emissions and reduce them by 20 per cent by 2020.

"We can make a difference at the local level," she declared. "We all want the same thing, a healthier world for our children and grandchildren."

By involving all sectors of the community and engaging local policy makers, the project planned and produced a day-long event last year which was designed to begin changing perceptions and behaviors to achieve their 2020 goal. A similar event is planned in the Fall.

Organizing Partners:
The Temple of Understanding, Green Faith, Center for Ecozoic Studies, International Center for Religion and Earth, Interfaith Power and Light.

China and Ecological Civilization
(Presented at ICEC Side Event at the UN, May 7, 2010)
By Herman F. Greene, J.D., D.Min.

My comments will primarily concern the current discourse on ecological civilization in China. I first became aware of this discourse when I received an invitation in January 2009 to participate in a Symposium on Ecological Civilization in Sanya, China. I immediately liked the term because I thought it was large enough to cover the massive transformation that is needed in human society. I also thought it correctly indicated that change would need to take place at the highest orders of human society to meet the crises we face in both human development and the relations of humans and nature. Click to read the speech.

For further information please contact:
Joan Kirby, UN Representative 212-573-9224 ext. 28;
Jkirby@templeofunderstanding.org

****************************************************************************

Report from the from the UN: Commission on the Status of Women

Fifteen years after the Fourth World Congress on Women in Beijing in 1995, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is responsible to review progress on the implementation of the twelve areas for action identified by the Beijing Platform. Several thousand women arrived at the UN for two weeks of empowering meetings.

One crucial and challenging area for the women’s rights movement is in the Arab world. The DPI/NGO briefing focused on Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities for Arab Women Fifteen Years after Beijing. Three women from Qatar, Egypt and Jordan reported on changes made by the Arab governments where continued stress on the importance of gender equality has produced noticeable improvements in health, education, employment, and even in political participation. Clear from the women’s comments is the separation of Arabic culture from the Islamic religion. Traditionally, women are highly respected in Islam and are given great freedom. Where restrictions are obvious, these women explained that cultural norms have overlaid religious practice. Thus they exonerated religion from presumption of repression and of coercion.

At their CSW workshop, the Committee of RNGO reversed the expected structure of the panel discussing Women of Faith. First, a number of women from very poor regions of Africa were invited to speak of their personal experience of faith. Reverend Kathleen Stone had gathered women of significant backgrounds who spoke movingly of empowerment through and despite suffering. A panel of experts was then invited to comment on these findings.

Post-Copenhagen and the Environment Policy Dilemma: Will the design, implementation and monitoring of climate change policy include the full participation of women? was the topic of a parallel event hosted by the TOU. Four superb speakers introduced and moderated by Lily Schwabe inspired an audience of 50-70 women. Sr. Katherine Ferguson described her firsthand experience of Copenhagen where she watched women in significant leadership positions. Audrey Choi, Director of Morgan Stanley’s Environment, Social and Community Reinvestment Group, spoke brilliantly about her opportunity to direct financing toward projects that help to achieve the MDGs, especially Goal 3 and Goal 7. Ellan Conrad, Co-Chair of the Bedford Environmental Summit and the Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Bedford 2020 Coalition, described the enlightened and growing awareness in Bedford of the environmental crisis in our country and the world. Hers is a community wide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2020 and to create a sustainable community that conserves natural resources and becomes a replicable model for other cities nationwide. This whole effort comes from the impetus of dedicated women. Finally, inspiring and creative, Milbry Polk, Ex-Director and Co-Founder of WINGS World Quest, celebrated extraordinary women explorers and scientists. Her organization exists to promote education and conservation and to inspire future generations.

Encouragement, empowerment, and enlightenment are the results of these two weeks of women’s presence at the UN.

**************************************************************************************
November 9, 2009 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
NGO/DPI Climate Caucus; Film screening - "As Seen through These Eyes", in the Trusteeship Council Chamber‏



****************************************************************************
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 - 1:15 - 2:30 pm
UN - The Economic and Social Council Chamber

THE PERMANENT MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES &
THE PERMANENT MISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA

Invite you you to attend a Film Screening and Discussion

“PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL”
The Story of Liberian Women WHO came together together to help end the civil war and bring peace to their country.

For passes and further information, contact Lily Schwabe @ the Temple Office 212-573-9224; lily@templeofunderstanding.org

********************************************************************************
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

The Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations
invites you to attend our ANNUAL MEETING

Topic: The Financial and Economic Crisis
Guest Speaker:
MR. KWAME SUNDARAM JOMO, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND MEMBER OF THE STIGLITZ COMMISSION

Responses from Religious Perspectives
REV. CHRIS FERGUSON, WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
MR. IBRAHIM RAMEY, MUSLIM AMERICAN SOCIETY

Followed by a discussion among our members.

Church Center
777 UN Plaza, 8th Floor Boss Room
44th Street & 1st Ave.
New York, NY

RSVP: Joan Kirby, RNGO President, jkirby@templeofunderstanding.org