Faith in Action to strengthen community-led and gender inclusive adaptation for climate justice

To be sustainable and just, climate adaptation efforts need to be gender inclusive and locally led. Faith-based actors are an integral part of crisis-affected communities, and are present before, during and after a climate induced crisis. What role does the faith perspective play, and what is needed to allow and spur faith actors to be a positive force for ensuring gender and climate justice?

The needed agreements, principles and plans are already in place. These include the Gender Action Plan adopted at COP25, and the Principles of locally-led adaptation formulated by World Resources Institute (WRI) and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), to which Islamic Relief and Act Church of Sweden were among the first signatories. Faith is a frame of values, ethics, attitudes and behaviours which is an important foundation for understanding and assessing climate action and societal transformation.

However, progress is slow and climate finance is lacking. It is high time to transform words into action.

During this event, arranged by Islamic Relief Sweden in collaboration with Act Church of Sweden, we will share examples of climate adaptation from local contexts and listen to the experience of communities affected by climate change. A panel of experts, including representatives of faith-based organisations, will provide comment on current efforts to transform policies into action. We will discuss the interconnections between locally-led climate adaptation, gender-responsive programming and faith, and what can be done by faith actors and others to put affected people at the centre of discussions on adaptation, inclusive decision-making and accountability. Drawing on the inter-religious statement “Sacred People, Sacred Earth”, we will explore what can be done by faith actors and the international community to ensure that faith becomes a catalytic force for climate- and gender justice for crisis-affected people and communities.

Speakers:
Dr Antjé Jackelén, Archbishop, Church of Sweden.
Sheikh Hassan Rabbani, Imam, chair of Scottish Muslim Forum.
Patriciah Roy Akullo, climate and gender expert, DanChurchAid, Uganda,
Nouhad Awwad, Ummah for Earth Project Campaigner, Greenpeace-MENA
Waseem Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer, Islamic Relief Worldwide
Erik Lysén, Director, Act Church of Sweden
Moderator: Shahin Ashraf MBE – Head of Global Advocacy, Islamic Relief Worldwide