Excellent new resource on religions and development from Germany
March 17, 2016:
Voices from Religions on Sustainable Development
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has published an extremely useful resource on religions and sustainable development titled Voices from Religions on Sustainable Development.
Contents
Gerd Muller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, wrote the Introduction and the two Forewords by His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, a Buddhist leader known for his passion for protecting the environment, and HE Horst Kohler, Former Federal President of Germany.
The sections on the Baha'i faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Indigenous traditions, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism were written by a range of key thinkers on the subject.
For each faith there is information on the religion itself, its teaching on the Planet, People, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership (the five explicit tenets of Agenda 2030), links and reading, and a reflection on how the faith's vision can bring humankind forward to a sustainable future.
ARC's China Programme Manager, He Yun, after her presentation to the Berlin meeting
We hope the full text of this valuable resource will soon be available online.
Press Release
"The book shows that religion can be part of the solution to global challenges. It brings together the multifaceted wisdom of religions and indigenous traditions on sustainable development," say organisers.
"More than 25 inspiring followers, theologians, practitioners and academics from the Bahá’í Faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Indigenous traditions, Islam, Judaism, and the Sikh Religion share their spiritual and religious insights on the five dimensions of the new Agenda 2030: Planet, People, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership.
"The book demonstrates that common spiritual values are at the heart of all religious and indigenous traditions – and that bringing these virtues to life can contribute to overcoming environmental destruction, poverty, forced migration, corruption, terror, discrimination and injustice. The authors give cause for optimism that the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030 signed by 193 nations at the United Nations in September 2015 can be achieved through a conscious individual and collective effort – provided we ourselves are willing to change in the first place."
Background
Voices from Religions on Sustainable Development was prepared in time for the meeting “Partners for Change: Religions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” in Berlin in February 2016 sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Representatives from the fields of religion, politics, civil society and academia attended, as well as experts from multilateral and bilateral development agencies, including two colleagues from ARC and others from ARC's partnership bodies including the Bhumi Project.
Detail from the cover by Paul Klee, Highways and Byways, 1929
ARC at a glance ARC is a secular body that helps the major religions of the world to develop their own environmental programmes, based on their own core teachings, beliefs and practices.
