The ICE Network (Inter-religious Climate and Ecology Network)

 

is a pan-Asia, local-to-local, collaborative network of diverse spiritual communities seeking to share experiences, learning, and wisdom that will build resilience and empowerment in the face of climate change.

 

Our purpose is to wisely influence national public policy within Asia and to stimulate and strengthen diplomatic discussions around climate change at international level. We aim to do this in cooperation with various stakeholders, such as faith-based and civil society organizations, gender and age based groups, and business networks. We seek to encourage healing in a world struggling with equality and vulnerability, both intensified by climate change.

 

ICE Actions, a tripartite approach will guide actions resulting from the network, addressing the key strategic areas where an integrated faith-based response can organise and engage directly to mitigate impacts and integrate adaptation responses, and importantly, solutions which recognize the human drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss:

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• Micro Level: Faith traditions continue to play a strong role in the everyday life of communities across Asia. Faith leaders should collaborate across inter- and intra-faith networks to educate and raise awareness among faith leaders and faith communities around Climate Change and biodiversity, and to facilitate community actions for mitigation and adaptation, rooted in long-term sustainable, equitable development.

• Macro Level: At a policy level, faith leaders have an essential role in advocating values and ethics, while leveraging their position within society, to influence global negotiations and direct national and local policies - that are at this time rooted in national interests - for immediate and long-term health, safety and socio-economic-environmental well-being of political constituents.

 

Paradigm Change: At all levels, from grassroots communities to local and national awareness and onto the global stage, a faith-based response has a critical role to play in advocating a paradigm change in values and orientations towards our planet and the way we coexist within it.