This year PaRD’s Annual Forum on Religion and Sustainable Development focuses on Faith and Partnerships in Addressing the Climate Crisis. The event is organised by the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) in cooperation with the Indonesian Ministry for Religious Affairs. Members as well as interested organisations and actors are invited to the conference in Bali, Indonesia. It will be the first annual gathering of PaRD members to be held in Southeast Asia since the partnership was founded in 2015. It is also the first to be known under the new name “Annual Forum on Religion and Sustainable Development” – and with the official event hashtag #PaRD22. The renaming reflects PaRD’s vision to serve as a key global annual gathering for all those who engage in the field of religion, spirituality, and sustainable development.
Faith and Partnerships in Addressing the Climate Crisis
The climate crisis requires global solutions and cooperation. The IPCC’s report entitled Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability shows, for example, that since 2008 more than 20 million people have been displaced from their homes each year by devastating floods and storms. Furthermore, the IPCC estimates that climate change will cause 32 to 132 million more people to fall into extreme poverty in the next ten years alone. Global warming will threaten food security and increase the incidence of heat-related deaths, heart disease and mental health problems.
At this year’s Annual Forum, PaRD aims to highlight the current climate crisis and the role of PaRD members in addressing cross-cutting issues such as gender justice, hunger, mental health and psychosocial support, and humanitarian assistance. High-level political and religious representatives, development experts, practitioners, including young people, with PaRD members from civil society – especially religious, indigenous and traditional actors – governments, multilateral entities as well as academic and research institutes are going to share best practices, deliberate on policy recommendations and develop ideas for synergistic ways of working together.
Co-creative Member Engagement in Bali and online
The Annual Forum on Religion and Sustainable Development will start with a formal annual general assembly of all PaRD members. From the second day onwards, sessions open to registered participants begin. Virtual as well as in-person participants can look forward to a multi-faith opening as well as an official keynote address by Mr Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, Minister of Religious Affairs of Indonesia. Another highlight is the Market Place and the Open Forum in which participants will present their work.
