Posted on Sep 10, 2007
Just finishing the grand Hari Bhakti Ibu Pertiwi (Devotion to Motherland Day) on Sunday, 2 September 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia, interfaith spiritual leader and humanist Anand Krishna is flying to New York to attend the 60th Annual DPI/NGO Conference of the United Nations from 5 to 7 September 2007.
Themed ‘Climate Change: How It Impacts Us All’, the three-day conference is attended by more than 2,000 representatives of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from over 80 countries. However, of the 2000 people attending, only three participants are from Indonesia, i.e. Anand Krishna himself (founder of Anand Ashram Foundation and the primum mobile of National Integration Movement), Liny Tjeris (Anand Ashram), and Maya Safira Muchtar (Chairwoman of National Integration Movement).
The conference itself reviews the scientific evidence on climate change, including its consequences on indigenous peoples, water security, land use and the politics of energy. The various workshops and parallel meetings also aim to facilitate individual action plans that address the threat of catastrophe posed by climate change and inspire participants to take action to mitigate – and in some cases – reverse the effects of this environmental crisis.
There are at least four conference sessions that discuss ethical and spiritual aspects of combating climate change, i.e. The Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change: Practical Implications (Wednesday, 5 September 2007), Faith Responses to Climate Change (Thursday, 6 September 2007), Spiritual Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability (Thursday, 6 September 2007) and the Ethical and Spiritual Response to Climate Change (Friday, 7 September 2007). The Conference produces a Declaration on Climate Change on the last day (Friday); the draft can be found here.
