Paris on a COP21 evening. | Gillian Bowser
Two recent posts on the fellow-run Sci on the Fly blog explored issues around COP21 – the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Marit Wilkerson (2014-16 Executive Branch Fellow) urged conservation and environmental science professionals at COP21 to connect with faith-based communities. Wilkerson suggested looking at environmentalism and conservation through the prism of morality. Pope Francis brought wide attention to the moral aspect of climate change in his encyclical Laudato Si, which was shortly followed by the International Islamic Climate Change Symposium’s statement on climate change. She argued that professionals in conservation and environmental science should connect with faith-based communities for two reasons: “(1) most people across the globe identify with a religion or religious philosophy; and, (2) conservation and environmentalism are morally-grounded.”
After the meeting, Gillian Bowser (2011-12 Executive Branch Fellow) blogged about the activity of the Research and Independents Non-governmental Organizations (RINGO).