Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development

ICSD published a Report on Faith and Ecology Courses in North American Seminaries. The release of the report in June 2015 coincided with the release of Pope Francis’s Encyclical "Laudato Si: On care for our Common Home." The report was revised and expanded in September and November, 2015, following input from seminary deans.[4] Research for the report indicated that the number and diversity of courses on faith and ecology at institutions training seminarians in North America increased in the past number of years. Out of 231 seminaries investigated, over 165 courses were found to have been offered at over 55 seminaries in the United States and Canada.[5]

This report highlights ecologically themed courses offered at Catholic seminaries in North America, Rome, and the Holy Land.[6]

Released in March 2016, the Report on Faith and Ecology Teaching in the Holy Land Seminaries highlights the faith and ecology courses offered by various seminaries in the Holy Land, with a focus on Christian and Jewish seminaries.[7]

In collaboration with the Green Seminary Initiative and the Seminary Stewardship Alliance, ICSD provides an online, searchable syllabus collection of courses on faith and ecology.[8]

In June, 2016, the International Seminar on Science and Religion for Environment Care[12] took place in Torreciudad, Spain, and was organized by the Environmental Ethics chair of University of Alcalá, the Tatiana Perez de Guzman el Bueno Foundation and the Social Promotion of Culture Foundation. ICSD's founder and executive director, Rabbi Yonatan Neril, was one of seventeen participants in the Seminar, and participated in a press conference in Madrid following the event.[13]

The Seminar produced a declaration, which stated: "The vast majority of people living on our planet believe in the importance of spiritual and religious traditions in their daily lives [...]." As Pope Francis wrote in Laudato Si': "This should spur religions to dialogue among themselves for the sake of protecting nature, defending the poor, and building networks of respect and fraternity” (§201).[14] The Declaration contained six points on the impact science and religions can have together in promoting ecological sustainability, and emphasized how "we need Science and Religion working together to make this necessary change happen."[15]

The Parliament was partially focused on climate change, and featured religious leaders speaking out on the moral imperative to act. At the ‘Climate Change and You’ event, speakers included H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, and ICSD director Rabbi Yonatan Neril.[16] The event was organized and facilitated by the Global Interfaith WASH alliance. Rabbi Neril also spoke on a panel on Values Based Approaches to Social Justice & Sacred Activism, which was organized by Brahma Kumaris.[17]

The International Islamic Climate Change Symposium took place on August 17–18, 2015 in Istanbul and centered upon the launch of the Islamic Climate Change Declaration. Muslim clerics gathered with clergy of other faiths to offer, in the words of the Declaration, an "urgent and radical reappraisal" of modern society.[18] Rabbi Yonatan Neril, ICSD's founder and director, attended and spoke at the Symposium.

Faith and Ecology Conference for Seminarians in Jerusalem, 2014

On October 22, 2014, ICSD organized the Faith and Ecology Conference in Jerusalem, which brought together over 100 Christians, Jewish and Muslim clergy and seminary students. The gathering provided tools and inspiration to expand faith-based environmental teaching and action within seminaries. Religious figures of all three Abrahamic faiths spoke on the connection between faith teachings and ecological stewardship, including Bishop William Shomali of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of Yeshivat Hesder Petach Tikva, and Imam Wassim Barhum of Ein Rafa. A scientific perspective on climate change and ecological issues was provided by Dr. Nurit Hashimony Yaffe from the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo.[19]

The Conference was co-organized by ICSD, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and the Salesian Pontifical University—Jerusalem campus.[20]

The ICSD and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung held the Interfaith Climate and Energy Conference[21] in Jerusalem on March 19, 2012. The Conference featured Jewish, Muslim, and Christian leaders[22] from Israel, and via pre-recorded religious leaders who spoke on the ethical need and religious basis for improvements on climate change and the use of renewable energy. A video was filmed as part of the conference.

Panel from the 2012 Interfaith Climate and Energy Conference. From left: Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, Rabbi Daniel Sperber, and Sheik Muhammed Amara.

ICSD collaborated with the Southern Africa Faith Communities Environment Institute and The Interfaith Declaration on Climate Change[23] to organize two events in conjunction with the 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference.[24] The events featured a number of religious leaders and scientists who called for immediate action to address climate change. The speakers included Bishop Geoff Davis representing Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Christiana Figueres, head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of Mohandas Gandhi and a Member of Parliament in South Africa.

2011 UN Climate Change Conference

In July 2011, ICSD held a panel discussion featuring Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious figures speaking on the importance of environmental conservation and how it relates to their respective religions.[25] One speaker, Auxiliary Bishop to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Msgr. William Shomali, stressed, "We are tourists on this land, and we will leave it one day, but we must leave it clean for the next generations, we must be accountable for how we use this common home." These sentiments were echoed by Deputy Minister of the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Affairs Haj Salah Zuheika and AJC International Director of Inter-religious Affairs Rabbi David Rosen, who agreed that respect for nature is equivalent to a respect for G-d and for G-d's creations.[26]

ICSD director Rabbi Yonatan Neril contributed to the 2012-2013 collection "Uplifting People and Planet: Eighteen Essential Jewish Lessons on the Environment". It includes 18 articles on core Jewish teachings in regard to the environment. It was part of the year of learning partnership of Canfei Nesharim[36] and Jewcology,[37] and JES was a partner to the initiative.

The Jewish Climate Initiative is a branch of JES and the ICSD. It focuses on tikkun olam (literally "repairing the world" in Hebrew) by providing a Jewish response to the current climate change crisis that threatens the ecosystems of Earth. Its focus areas are ethics, policy and activism, and science and technology, and how to utilize those areas to make a difference in the world.