FaithInvest CEO Dr Lorna Gold is in Northern Ireland today and tomorrow for a series of grassroots events uniting faith and civil society groups for climate justice.
Today Dr Gold will meet faith leaders at Queens University, Belfast, over lunch to discuss how they can mobilise their investments for sustainability beyond divestment, and in the evening, she will lead an informal session with the NI Inter-faith Forum at the Bahai South Belfast Windsor Hub.
Tomorrow, Friday 12 January, she will give the keynote address at a unique event entitled Let's Join the Dots Together event at the Belfast Campus of Ulster University from 10.30am-1pm, to discuss how they can explore a joint approach for addressing environmental challenges.
Let's Join the Dots Together
Dr Gold said: ’I am excited to be in Belfast this Thursday and Friday to participate in a series of grassroots events around the topic of climate action post COP28. The events aim to explore what faiths and civil society can do to accelerate climate action locally. I'm thrilled to be a part of it.’
Around 50 representatives of 40 organisations will attend the Let's Join the Dots Together event, which is co-hosted by the Belfast Jesuit Centre, the Redemptorist Youth Ministry, the Diocese of Down & Connor, the University of Ulster and the Focolare Movement.
It brings together a wide range of faith and civil society groups including the Catholic Church, Church of Ireland, Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church, the Inter-Faith Forum, organisations such as the Mothers' Union, Trocaire, Tearfund, Knights of St Columbanus, Christian Aid, and civil groups such as Corrymeela Community, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and the International Futures Forum.
Action post COP28
Dr Gold will share her experience of being at COP28 and discuss how faiths can take action on the climate after COP28, including how they invest. Faith groups had a bigger presence at this COP than at any previous UN climate conference, with a dedicated Faith Pavilion that hosted 65 events and 325 speakers.
Dr Gold said: ‘I’ll be discussing what happens after COP28 and how #faithfulfinance is part of the solution.
'Faith and finance, often seen as separate spheres, have tremendous potential when combined. FaithInvest's aim is to help faith investors to realise that their investments can be a powerful expression of their faith and, when faith-aligned, can help to create a more just and sustainable world.'