On June 28, 2018, Gunnar Stålsett, Honorary President of Religions for Peace, gave a briefing to the Oslo Tropical Forest Forum on the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative, the emerging multi-faith alliance of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist religious leaders and faith communities united to protect the world’s tropical forests. He outlined a vision and objectives: dialogue and consensus-building for solidarity among spiritual leaders, politicians, academics, business and industry captains, scientists, and indigenous communities; raise awareness and facilitate education with information and tools; and, mobilize coalitions and commitments among governments and companies to be honest, respect laws, and fulfill policy goals. He described the project as different faiths in common action aligning religion to reality and inspiring reality to take religion seriously.
Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, the lead implementing agency and publisher of Foresight, discussed building popular opinion through every sector of society; networking with grassroots efforts and citizen movements; and, persuading Amazonians of a more prosperous and better life through economic development.
Fletcher Harper, Executive Director of GreenFaith and member of project’s steering committee, suggested success can be measured in advocacy efforts (especially action among shareholders and investors), moral and operational agreements, and public statements/declarations/op-eds. He also stated a need for religions and others to acknowledge the long and complicated history of oppression and exploitation so as to rebuild trust and honest partnerships.
Josien Aloema-Tokoe of COICA urged preserving the language and cultural traditions of indigenous peoples as well as training and empowering youth.
Mauricio Lopez Oropeza of REPAM Red Eclesial Panamazónica championed the values of reciprocity, collaboration, and local sovereignty; made an appeal to correct inequality, human rights violations, and censorship; and embraced an ethical approach founded in love, honor, and courage.
Din Syamsuddin, Chairman of the Center for Dialogue and Cooperation Among Civilizations, identified key challenges in forest burning, illegal logging, and river pollution and also highlighted a new widespread attitude of respect for living nature.
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People, made a special appearance to condemn assassinations of forest guardians and criminalizing opposition to abuse and destruction.
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences – Ethics in Action project sent video greetings from the Vatican.
The World-Teacher Project 