Yesterday was a day for people of faith addressing climate change. In addition to the joint release by two Western Zen organizations of a statement about the climate crisis, another statement was produced, this time by 250 leaders of various faiths.
The “Interfaith Climate Change Statement” was signed by a number of Buddhists, as well as five Catholic cardinals, the CEO of the world’s largest Islamic humanitarian NGO, and many others. It was then handed to the President of the UN General Assembly at a “colorful multifaith ceremony with Buddhist chants, Zoroastrian prayers and Sikh drumming” in New York.
The full statement can be read here; those who wish to their names may do so here.
Buddhist signatories of the letter when first issued include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Pema Chödrön, Ajahn Brahm, Rev. Jokyo George Gatenby, Dr. Jake Mitra, Norman Fischer, Joan Halifax, Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Ven. Santussika Bhikkhuni of the Buddhist Climate Action Network, Ven. Khandro Rinpoche, Martin Janowitz and Adam Lobel of Shambhala International, Ven. Bhikkhuni Thich Nu Chan Khong and Ven. Thich Chan Phap Kham of the Plum Village community, David R. Loy, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, and more.
Watch a video about the Interfaith Climate Change Statement: