[font=Century Gothic]RELIGION AND THE ENVIRONMENT[/font]
FROM: THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE FORUM
With speakers from around the world – art/music/performance – stalls/exhibitions. Organised by the Campaign against Climate Change (CCC)
The London Islamic Network for the Environment (LINE) is contributing to two workshops at this forum, both of which are described below. The first workshop, on Banking, Economics & Climate Change has been organised by LINE, and LINE is represented in the second workshop on Faith & Climate Change. There are in total 50+ seminars & workshops, and the full program with speakers can be viewed by clicking here:
http://www.campaigncc.org/forumprogram.pdf
Please do forward this email notice to interested friends, relatives and colleagues.
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1) The London Islamic Network for the Environment invites you to:
BANKING, ECONOMICS & CLIMATE CHANGE
A workshop organised by LINE within a London International Forum on Climate Change.
Date: Sat 14th June 2008
Time: 3pm - 4.30pm*
Venue: Room S 5*, South Camden Community School, Charrington Street, London, NW1 1RG (Nearest Tubes: Warren Street, Kings Cross or Euston) ;
Speakers:
Tarek El Diwany (Author, Editor - islamic-finance.com)
Canon Peter Challen (Chair, Christian Council for Monetary Justice)
Colin Baines ( Ethics Adviser - The Co-operative Group/Bank)
This workshop will consider nature of the dominant banking system, including the effect of the lending of money with compound interest, and the extent to which this causes the economy to be disconnected from the natural world. It will also consider the influence of the dominant banking model on economic activity and climate change. The workshop will also explore alternative systems of economics and local currencies.
Speakers Bios:
Tarek El Diwany graduated in Accounting and Finance from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom in 1985. Tarek has worked as an interest rate derivatives dealer in the government bond market, and as head of Islamic finance for a major financial institution based in London . In 1997, he completed the first edition of The Problem With Interest, and in the same year launched
www.islamic-finance.com, where he is now the Editor. In addition to his work as a writer, Tarek is a partner at Zest Advisory LLP, a London-based firm providing consulting services in Islamic banking and finance, and is a frequent speaker on the topic of Islamic banking at conferences throughout the world.
Canon Peter Challen chairs the Christian Council for Monetary Justice and moderates the London Global Table on inclusive Monetary Justice. He was formerly Senior Chaplain of the ecumenical South London Industrial Mission (SLIM) for 29 years; Sloan Fellow of the London Business School; Fellow of the RSA; and member of the 'Living Systems Work Group.' He chaired the Southwark Credit Union Development Association and works with the LETSlink London group to find synergy between Credit Unions and Local Exchange Trading Systems.
Colin Baines is an Ethics Adviser to The Co-operative Group, involved with The Co-operative Bank and CIS' ethical finance policies. During 2006/07 he declined some £270 million of bank loans for ethical reasons. He is currently undertaking CIS shareholder engagement with oil companies who are in opposition to unconventional fossil fuel exploitation, and is working with NGO's and investors to instigate a shareholder activist campaign on the issue. Colin's remit extends to the Group's social and environmental public policy activities; he has recently lobbied the EU for biofuel sustainability criteria and the UK government for renewable energy feed-in tariffs. He has spoken at a number of CSR and ethical finance events throughout Europe and contributed to numerous think tank reports.
This is one of a number of workshops at the weekend forum. Donations are welcome on entry to the forum. (Recommended donation of £5 for 1 day, £8 for 2 days. Please contact the conference organisers if you have difficulty paying this.)
To register in advance for the forum see
http://www.campaigncc.org/forum.shtml . Registration guarantees access to the Forum and preferential entry to oversubscribed seminars & workshops but is not essential.
LINE website:
www.lineonweb.org.uk
*Please also visit
http://www.campaigncc.org/forum.shtml for up-to-date information.
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2) FAITH & CLIMATE CHANGE
A workshop organised within a London International Forum on Climate Change.
Date: Sun 15th June 2008
Time: 11.30am - 1pm*
Venue: Room S 2*, South Camden Community School, Charrington Street, London, NW1 1RG (Nearest Tubes: Warren Street, Kings Cross or Euston) ;
Speakers:
Vivienne Cato (The Noah Project)
Mark Dowd (Christian Ecology Link/Operation Noah)
Joyce Edmond-Smith (Network of Engaged Buddhists)
Muzammal Hussain (London Islamic Network for the Environment)
How do different faiths perceive climate change? What contribution is being made by faith groups in meeting the challenge that climate change presents? The speakers will offer their perspective from their own faith background, after which the workshop will open up to a participative discussion.
Speaker Bios:
Mark Dowd was raised a Roman Catholic, and read politics at Exeter University. Mark went on to read International Relations at St Antony's Oxford, and from there entered into journalism with The Times newspaper. Since 1987, he has worked in TV with Weekend World , Newsnight and Panorama . In 2001 he went freelance, specialising in presenting programmes on religion. Amongst his documentary output are Abused and Catholic (2003), the award-winning Children of Abraham (2004), Hallowed Be Thy Game , (Jan 2005), and Tsunami: Where was God? which won the Radio Times best religious documentary of the year award in 2006. Following this, Mark won the national award for Religious Broadcaster of the Year from the Churches' Media Council. Mark's last documentary was God Is Green which aired in 2007. Since then, he has taken up a full time post with Operation Noah, a faith based organisation which campaigns full time on climate change.
Joyce Edmond-Smith has been a member of the Network of Engaged Buddhists, of which she is the Chair, for 15 years. She has a degree in Sociology and an MA in Multi Racial Studies. She was a Labour Councillor for 20 years on Brighton & Hove Council, where she was responsible for many improvements in her ward. She was also the first Chair of the Women's Committee; Joint Deputy Leader; Chair of the Environment Committee, and Convenor of the Council's Sustainability Commission, where she successfully put sustainability and climate change at the forefront of the Council's agenda. Joyce left the Council and the Labour Party last year. She has campaigned for many years on environment and sustainability, especially on climate change. She also works with several local groups and is presently member of the Brighton & Hove Transition group, as well as the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, and is a member of the Committee of the Brighton & Hove United Nations Association.
Muzammal Hussain has been involved with social change and environmental campaigning for many years. Whilst building strong links with the wider environmental movement, he was amongst the first to mobilise the UK Muslim community on climate change and GM foods. In 2004, he established the London Islamic Network for the Environment (LINE), and more recently gained an MA in Environment, Development and Policy from Sussex University, writing his final dissertation on Islam and climate change. In the past he has also been a volunteer for the World Development Movement in Brighton. Muzammal is also a medical doctor and has worked in the field of mind-body healing.
Vivienne Cato : Awaiting Bio
This is one of a number of workshops at the weekend forum. Donations are welcome on entry to the forum. (Recommended donation of £5 for 1 day, £8 for 2 days. Please contact the conference organisers if you have difficulty paying this.)
To register in advance for the forum see
http://www.campaigncc.org/forum.shtml . Registration guarantees access to the Forum and preferential entry to oversubscribed seminars & workshops but is not essential.
LINE website:
www.lineonweb.org.uk
*Please also visit
http://www.campaigncc.org/forum.shtml for up-to-date information.
