Christian-Muslim Dialogue on Climate Change with Delegations from the National Association of Evangelicals and the Kingdom of Morocco
June 19, 2008
The World Bank, Washington, DC
Delegations from the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and the Kingdom of Morocco, including the Moroccan Ambassador to the United States, met at the World Bank for a day-long discussion centering on the topic of climate change and âCreation Care,â or religiously-inspired care for the environment. The World Bank was asked to one day of the three-day dialogue because of its technical expertise on climate change and its long-standing commitment to development and faith partnerships. After several informative presentations by the Bankâs climate experts, a number of the American and Moroccan delegates spoke about their work on climate change issues and the importance of protecting the environment in their respective faith traditions.
The dialogue was rich and engaging, and the group grappled both with issues of how to interest more people in climate change issues and how to think about possible partnership in the future, given common ground and motivations and also the diversity of religious tradition and culture. Participants were struck with the candor and authenticity of the dialogue, the quality of the presentations on all sides, and the earnest desire to work together. Subsequent collaboration emerging from this conference is likely to include media and communication efforts to build broader support for work on climate change, as well as continuing meetings, the next most likely in Morocco. Commitments were also made to broaden the dialogue to include a wider set of faith and interfaith communities in the United States and the Muslim world on issues of climate change.
Read the WFDD report on the meeting.
Read Katherine Marshallâs blog post on the meeting.
Read Anouar Majidâs blog post on the meeting.