Barcelona provides the setting for the virtual Religions for Peace 2024 meeting to mark Earth Day
Barcelona City Council is collaborating in the celebration of Earth Day 2024 by presenting a meeting organised by Religions for Peace (GTER). Entitled “Love and respect for the Earth: fostering religious pluralism, multi-sectoriality, and intergenerational collaboration to address the climate crisis”, the virtual meeting will take place on 22 April at 2.30 pm. The meeting will be streamed on the Religions for Peace Facebook and YouTube platforms.
Earth Day, which is celebrated each year on 22 April, serves as a reminder of how important environmental conservation and sustainability are, and of the need for the international community to unite, and to take action for a healthier planet and a more hopeful future. This year, Earth Day offers a prime opportunity to heed the global call to action to accelerate initiatives to achieve climate goals and protect the planet.
Religions for Peace is the world’s largest movement that brings together leading figures from different religious and spiritual traditions, and has over fifty years of experience in fostering collaboration and action based on religious and spiritual pluralism, together with other key players, with the aim of meeting human needs, especially the needs of the most vulnerable communities. In November 2022, Religions for Peace and Manresa City Council commemorated the 500th anniversary of St. Ignatius’ journey to the city of Manresa with a landmark interfaith pilgrimage along the Ignatian Way. This event culminated in the signing of The Global Manresa Pact 2022, a benchmark agreement between different religious and spiritual traditions and various players within society whose primary objective is to foster resilient, sustainable, safe and inclusive cities. This was followed by the inauguration of Earth Day 2022, entitled “Love and respect the Earth. Religious pluralism to address the climate crisis”.
Building on the success of that event, this year’s Earth Day 2024 meeting will serve as a platform from which to review the commitments made since 2022, and serve as a catalyst, encouraging further action to be taken towards their implementation. Organised by Religions for Peace International – which also involves young people from different religions and spiritualities within the Religions for Peace movement, in collaboration with Religions for Peace-Spain (GTER) – Barcelona City Council and Manresa City Council, this virtual meeting aims to engage a variety of people interested in dialogue and action geared towards sustainable urban development. The event will mark Earth Day 2024 with the aim of “moving towards shared well-being in order to protect the Earth through interfaith, intersectoral and intergenerational collaboration on climate mitigation”.
The meeting “Continuing the Journey: Strengthening collaboration through religious and spiritual pluralism to make cities more sustainable” will have the following objectives:
- To facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue on environmental stewardship, highlighting the values of love, respect and responsibility towards the Earth that are shared across diverse religious and spiritual communities.
- To foster intergenerational dialogue and partnerships, emphasising the importance of intergenerational cooperation in promoting sustainable urban development, tackling climate change and safeguarding the planet for present and future generations.
- To showcase innovative solutions and actions taken by participants to address climate change and other commitments contained in the Manresa Pact 2022.
- To encourage global intergenerational solidarity in terms of multi-sectoral religious and spiritual pluralism and the collective responsibility to take climate action, with an emphasis on promoting sustainable urban development to preserve and protect the planet for present and future generations.
- To encourage and facilitate commitment to sustainability and climate action among individuals, organisations, cities and governments, while providing a platform to make it possible to track and share those commitments, promoting collective accountability and progress.