Windsor Celebration 2009

The Windsor Celebration of Faiths and the Environment has been "a huge success", says ARC Secretary General Martin Palmer. Nine of the world's major faiths announced a series of hugely impressive long-term plans 'to protect the living planet'.

Leading secular groups also pledged their commitment to work with the religions, and in his keynote address on Tuesday, the United Nations declared that the faiths had a key role to play in discussions on the future of the planet.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt Sheikh Ali Goma'a said Islam's second holiest city Madinah would become a model green city within five years, and moves would begin to make the hajj more environmentally friendly within three years.

Other announcements included the Shinto plan to develop a sacred forestry standard for religious forests; the planting of 8.5 million trees to address serious deforestation on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania; faith-based eco-labelling systems in the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh plans; and proposals to halve the Jewish community's meat intake by 2015.