Chief Rabbi: Faith leaders have to ‘scramble for attention’ at COP26
Climate change is 'a religious subject, and God calls upon us to respond in a religious way and to take a religious lead for all of our society' he said
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has claimed religious leaders have been sidelined at the Cop 26 climate change conference.
He said faith leaders had been left to “scramble” for opportunities to make their voice heard, despite having influence over millions of people in the battle to save to the planet.
Mirvis said: “I personally lament the fact that, with regard to Cop26, the United Nations has not chosen faith to be one of the key streams.
“Within the programme there isn’t a day devoted to faith and its input. Faith leaders coming here have needed to scramble for attention, for opportunities to participate.”
The Chief Rabbi was speaking on Monday a panel at Cop26 in Glasgow alongside the Bishop of Reading, the Right Rev Olivia Graham, and Imam Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi, chief imam of the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society.
Stressing his view on the importance of faith leaders in influencing opinion on climate change Mirvis added: “This is a religious subject, and God calls upon us to respond in a religious way and to take a religious lead for all of our society.”
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