18 th April 2016

INTERFAITH CLIMATE CHANGE STATEMENT TO WORLD LEADERS HANDOVER PROGRAM Ceremony for the Formal Handover to the President of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Mogens Lykketoft Church Center of the UN, 777 UN Plaza (1st Avenue and E. 44th Street), New York

Program - Monday, 18th April 11am-12pm

11.00-11.05am Opening Chant: Dr. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, President of the Buddhist Council of New York Welcome by Moderator: Rev’d Fletcher Harper, Executive Director, GreenFaith 11.05- 30am: Faith Speakers • Kiran Bali MBE JP, Global Chairperson, United Religions Initiative • Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid, Deputy Amir (Vice President) of The Muslim Alliance in North America • H.H. Radhanath Swami, Hindu, member, Board of Governors, International Society for Krishna Consciousness • The Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, Bishop for Indigenous Peoples, Anglican Church of Canada • Sister Gayatri, Representative to the UN in New York of the Brahma Kumaris • Tomas Insua, founding Global Coordinator, Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) • Dr. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, President of the Buddhist Council of New York

11.30-11.32am: Zoroastrian prayer. Mr. Homi Gandhi, President Elect, Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America 11.32-11.37am : Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in New York: His Excellency Mr. François Delattre 11.37-11.42am: Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations in New York: His Excellency Mr.Omar Hilale 11.42-11.47am Director for Strategy, Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Mr. Halldór Thorgeirsson 11.47-11.55am: Official Handover of the Statement to His Excellency Ambassador Mogens Lykketoft, President of the UN General Assembly and his statement 11.55-11.57: Sikh Prayer Song: Dr. Rajwant Singh, Founder and President of EcoSikh 12-00pm Close 12.05-12.35pm: Press Conference (in chapel)

PRESS CONFERENCE- Starts: 12.05pm Moderator: Ms. Ciara Shannon, Interfaith Climate Change Statement Coordinator, GreenFaith Asia Coordinator Speakers: • His Excellency Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, The President of the UN General Assembly • His Excellency Mr. François Delattre, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in New York • His Excellency Mr. Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations in New York • Mr. Halldór Thorgeirsson, Director for Strategy, Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) • Ven. Bodhi, Founder, Buddhist Global Relief • Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid, Deputy Amir (Vice President) of The Muslim Alliance in North America. Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York • H.H Radhanath Swami, Hindu, Board Member, International Society for Krishna Consciousness • Bishop Mark MacDonald, President for North America, World Council of Churches. Representing WCC and ACT (Action by Churches Together) • Ms. Philippa Rowland, Interfaith Dialogue and Regional Leader, Catholic Earthcare Australia

SPEAKER BIOS - (Event and Press Conference)

• Event Moderator: The Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director, GreenFaith, Episcopal Church of the United States of America. GreenFaith is an international, multi-faith environmental organization. He coordinated the 2015 OurVoices campaign which mobilized religious support globally for COP 21, led the organizing of faith communities for the People’s Climate March (New York, September 2014) and the widely reported Climate Change march from central Rome to St. Peter´s Square, Vatican City (28 June 2015). He also has a leading role in the faith-based fossil fuel divestment movement. Email: [email protected] • Ambassador Mogens Lykketoft is the President of the 70th United Nations General Assembly. He was speaker of the Danish Parliament from 2011 to 2015, leader of the Social Democrat Party from 2002 to 2005 and before that Finance Minister and Foreign Minister between 1993 and 2001. He became an MP in 1981. • Ambassador François Delattre is the Permanent Representative of the French Republic to the United Nations and Head of the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations in New York since July 2014. He previously served at the French Embassy in Germany, in the French Foreign Ministry´s Department of Strategic Affairs and Disarmament, was Press and Communications Director at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., Deputy Director of the French Foreign Minister’s Office, French Consul General in New York City, Ambassador of France to Canada and Ambassador of the French Republic to the United States of America until 14 June 2014. • Ambassador Omar Hilale is the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations in New York since April 2014. He was previously ambassador to Indonesia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, Secretary- General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and ambassador and permanent representative of Morocco to the United Nations in Geneva. He was also Coordinator of the African Group WIPO (2004-2005), Coordinator of the African Group at the WTO (2003), President of the Conference on Disarmament (2004). • Ms.Kiran Bali, MBE JP, Chairperson, United Religions Initiative. Kiran is the youngest ever chairperson of the largest global interfaith organisation, operating in 94 countries. Kiran’s social entrepreneurial skills coupled with her outstanding international active leadership have promoted equity and understanding whilst addressing interfaith challenges. Kiran is one of a mere handful of young female global religious and interfaith leaders. Email: [email protected] • Ven. is an American Buddhist monk, best known as a translator of from to English. In 2008 he founded Buddhist Global Relief, an organization dedicated to combating chronic hunger and malnutrition. He is also a spiritual ambassador of OurVoices. Email: [email protected] • Mr. Tomas Insua is Argentinian and the founding Global Coordinator of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, an international coalition of 300+ Catholic organizations that advances the Pope's call to climate action. He is also a Fulbright Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Co-chair of the Harvard Climate Justice Caucus. Email: [email protected] • The Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald became Canada's first National Indigenous Anglican Bishop in 2007. He is also the North American President for the World Council of Churches. Email: [email protected] • Rev. Dr. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, D. Min. is a Buddhist priest, ordained in 1980 in the 750-year-old Jodoshinshu tradition of Japanese . He is President of the Buddhist Council of New York, a Vice President of the Interfaith Center of New York and Community Clergy Liaison for the NYPD. Email: [email protected] • Sister Gayatri Naraine , Brahma Kumaris has dedicated her life to exploring the spiritual phenomenon of transformation in a world in transition. As the representative of the Brahma Kumaris at the United Nations, her focus is on connecting Sustainable Development to Human Flourishing. Gayatri was born in Guyana and currently lives in New York City. Email: [email protected] • Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid is the religious and spiritual leader (Imam) of The Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood Inc. in Harlem, NYC. Imam ‘Abdur-Rashid is also a President Emeritus of the Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York, and serves as the Vice President of the Muslim Alliance in North America. Email: [email protected] • Ms. Philippa Rowland , Catholic Earthcare Australia. Interfaith Dialogue and Regional Leader. Provided scientific advice to policymakers on sustainable agriculture and environmental risk management in Australia’s Federal Bureau of Resource Sciences. Works with community and faith groups on renewable/energy efficiency solutions to climate change. Joined Catholic Earthcare Australia in 2014 and on Advisory Committees for Multifaith SA, Conservation Council of SA and the Forum of Religion and Ecology. Email: [email protected] • His Holiness Radhanath Swami is a Vaishnava sanyassin (a monk in a Krishna-bhakti ) and teacher of the devotional path of Bhakti-yoga. His teachings draw from the sacred texts of India such as The Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Ramayana. He is a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Email: [email protected] • Mr. Halldór Thorgeirsson , an Icelandic national, is Director for Strategy at the UN Climate Change Secretariat in Bonn, where he coordinated substantive support to the negotiations of the Paris Agreement adopted by COP21 in Paris on 12 December 2015. He also oversees the development of the secretariat’s strategic approach to enhance the real impact of the newly established infrastructure for implementation, including the Green Climate Fund, as well as efforts to unlock the potential to reduce emissions before 2020 through enhanced cooperation and climate action. He was previously an official of the Ministry for the Environment of Iceland specialised in environmental issues.