As governments prepare for the United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen (COP-15) in December, Canadian Baha’is are involved in a number of activities aimed at addressing climate change and environmental sustainability.
From October 23-26, three Baha’is joined 1000 young people in Ottawa for PowerShift 2009, Canada’s largest-ever environment conference for youth. PowerShift conferences, which had already been held in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, encourage youth to voice their concerns and organize activities that address climate change and related issues.
The PowerShift conference provided an excellent opportunity to learn more about the youth environmental movement – the issues that have been identified – how they are framed and what actions are underway to address them - and to see if there are opportunities for Baha’is to participate in the discourse and related social action.
Given that the central principle of the Baha’i Faith is promotion of the unity of the human race, Baha’is scrupulously avoid involvement in partisan politics, which tend to be divisive.
“I found that the dialogue was less political than I had expected,” reported Carolyne Gardener, a University of Ottawa student who was one of the Baha’i participants. “In fact, in the seminars I attended, when politics were mentioned it was never about finger-pointing or blaming particular political parties or leaders. Rather, the dialogue on politics was focused on the need for creating a new government model for the economy and industry and for policy shifts in relation to climate change.”
In September, the Baha’i International Community launched an appeal to world leaders introducing and calling for the consideration of spiritual and ethical principles in the climate change deliberations. The appeal, drafted by the Baha’is, has been signed by 25 nongovernmental organizations, religious groups, and policy institutes. The document calls on world leaders to “consider deeply the ethical and moral questions at the root of the climate change crisis.”
The Baha’i participants at PowerShift found that ethical and spiritual considerations around climate change were definitely part of the conversation at the conference. “I was actually blown away at how almost all the PowerShift seminars I attended talked about the need for world unity,” commented Gardener. “People were talking about our spiritual connection to and the sacredness of the Earth, about its oneness and about the interconnection of all aspects of life, particularly in relation to the global environment.”
Gardener also said that participants were talking about a deeper shift that needs to take place to embrace these ideas. “There was even a sense that within the climate crisis lies an incredible opportunity to motivate change toward a more sustainable and just society.”
“I noticed that a new paradigm of leadership was being promoted,” said Justin Kianfar, an Ottawa engineering consultant who joined the other Baha’is at the conference. “Leadership was framed as part of a process of learning. It’s more about relationships than individuals. It’s about working with others to understand issues. Some conference participants brought attention to the importance of recognizing our higher, spiritual nature as an important part of the equation.”
“The most important thing I saw at the conference,” said Donald Lucas, another Ottawa student and the third Baha’i participant, “was that the sessions quite often culminated with an acknowledgment that some unknown ‘thing’ needed to happen to humanity in order for it to make changes toward a more just, sustainable, equitable, productive world. In these conversations it seemed quite clear to the participants that this change was not material, that it was not going to come from some policy, or from legislation and lobbying. It was going to take a change in people’s hearts and the souls. I would say spiritual principles were quite prominent at the conference, but in a subtle way.
“This sense was probably most clearly articulated in the conference symposium Awakening the Dreamer. It emphasized the need for spirituality in today’s society in order for the world to be a place in which mankind can thrive. It was spectacular to see hundreds of people who shared many of the beliefs I do.”
One day after the Ottawa conference, the Baha’i International Community announced it had partnered in a program to promote “generational change” to address climate change. The program, which is co-sponsored by the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), seeks to promote lifestyle changes that will help slow global warming and other environmental problems during a seven-year period from 2010 to 2017.
On November 4, a Baha’i delegation joined United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, along with delegations from the world’s major faiths, in a celebratory meeting that emphasized the role religion can play to inspire grassroots change and make “peace with the planet.”
At the event, several of the major religions launched action plans involving their communities in a long-term effort to protect the environment.
The Baha’i International Community’s Seven-Year Plan of Action on Climate Change will seek to incorporate consciousness raising and action into regional training institutes that have been established around the world. Tens of thousands of Baha’is are already engaged in institute programs in thousands of communities.
According to the Baha’i Plan, “The most effective method to raise the consciousness of the worldwide Baha’i community on the subject of climate change and to engage them in acts of service related to environmental sustainability is for the Institute to develop a course to explore the relationship of humans to the environment as articulated in the Baha’i Sacred Writings. This course would not simply be aimed at increasing knowledge on the subject but would build the capacity of participants to engage in acts of service related to environmental sustainability. Similarly, the programs for children and junior youth would include material on climate change and the contribution that the younger generation can make to address the climate crisis.”
In an ongoing effort to collaborate with their fellow citizens on climate change, five Canadian Baha’is will join the Baha’i International Community’s delegation to the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December. At the conference, the Baha’is will again highlight the importance of the moral and ethical dimensions of climate change featuring a publication outlining the initial considerations of the Baha’i International Community entitled “Seizing the Opportunity: Redefining the Challenge of Climate Change.”
For the past several years, the Canadian Baha’is have been encouraged by their national administrative council to become better informed about environmental and climate change issues, to participate in the spaces where the environmental discourse is being shaped, and to take local action to help safeguard the environment when planning their community activities. Through an ongoing learning process of action, reflection and consultation, new capacities are gradually being developed to help reflect the spiritual teachings on the environment in daily living.