The Climate Action Assemblies: It’s Time to Take Action

The climate emergency and the interfaith climate action movement are at the forefront of the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions! Sustainability, environmental justice, and the Right to a Healthy Environment take center stage at the two Climate Action Assemblies.

The Climate Action Task Force of the Parliament presents the 2023 Climate Assemblies, taking place at 5 pm CT on Monday, August 14th and 10 am CT on Friday, August 18th. Outstanding climate activists of the world’s faith and spiritual traditions will speak to the urgency of the climate crisis, the impact of climate change on human rights, and the path forward towards a sustainable and just future. 

Featured Luminaries of the Climate Assemblies

The Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, Ph.D. is the eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California. He leads The Episcopal Church’s delegation to the annual UN Climate Conference (COP).

Brother Benedict Ayodi, OFMCap is a Capuchin Franciscan friar, the outreach officer for Franciscans International, and the programs coordinator for Africa for the Laudato Si Movement, LSM. 

William Barber III is the Director of Climate and Environmental Justice at The Climate Reality Project and has spent nearly a decade on social justice organizing focusing on environmental and climate justice issues.

Ta’Kaiya Blaney has performed and spoken at grassroots Indigenous gatherings, rallies, and International conferences and forums across the globe from Idle No More to the United Nations, and Standing Rock to the Indigenous Climate Action’s Youth Delegation. 

Jelena Collins is the founder of the Climate Youth Coalition, where she helped create green policies- including helping write the Chicago Climate Action Plan, working for Chicago Public Schools, lobbying and striking for state legislature, and representing youth at international UN Climate Conferences. 

Sir Partha Dasgupta* is Frank Ramsey Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge, a Founder Member of the Management and Advisory Committee of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE), Kathmandu and helped to establish the journal Environment and Development Economics, *joining us via video message. 

Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley is an iconic Civil Rights leader, whose rich history includes joining the first US Peace Corps mission to Nigeria, serving as Pastor Emeritus of the Providence Baptist Church of Atlanta, and working with Interfaith Power & Light.

Dr. Jane Goodall* is a UN Messenger of Peace, founder of the youth-centered Roots and Shoots Institute, and the foremost expert on primatology, who has spent decades advocating for the environment and  conservation, *joining us via video message. 

Karenna Gore is the founder and executive director of the Center for Earth Ethics and visiting professor of practice of earth ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and ex officio faculty member of Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

Carroll Muffett is President of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), a recognized expert on international environmental law, a member of the IUCN’s World Commission on Environmental Law, and a leader in the emerging fields of climate litigation and international legal responses to climate change.

Robin Robinson is an award winning journalist and respected broadcaster whose more than three decades of Chicago-based reporting is marked by in-depth coverage of significant issues. 

Robby Romero uses art to bridge the gap between Indigenous Peoples, human rights, and social and environmental justice through his grassroots group Native Children’s Survival, and has spoken and performed at Indigenous gatherings and world events across the globe.

Rabbi Jennie Rosenn is the Founder & CEO of Dayenu, a new organization mobilizing the American Jewish community to confront the climate crisis with spiritual audacity and bold political action.

Elder Major “Moogy” Sumner is a world renowned performer and cultural ambassador of Ngarrindjeri arts, crafts, martial arts and traditional culture. He serves as a Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority board member, as a board member of Black Dance Australia, and as the artistic director of the Tal Kin Jeri dance group. 

Danica Sun was trained as a Climate Reality Leader in May 2021 and has since risen to co-director of the Climate Youth Coalition, lead team member of Climate Reality Chicago, co-president of the IMSA club terra, and co-head of the Composting @ IMSA initiative. 

Dharma Master Hsin Tao* is the founder of the Museum of World Religions, the Global Family for Love and Peace nonprofit, and the Ling Jiou Shan Monastery, *joining us via video message. 

Join us as we advance the Call to Conscience for protecting our planet and the rights of future generations and experience countless opportunities for inspiration, action, and world-changing relationship building. Learn more about Climate Action at the 2023 Parliament Convening→

Join the Climate Action Task Force in creating a sustainable Convening!

• Bring a reusable water bottle with you! There will be water stations to refill your bottle throughout the convention center.
• Opt for public transit– McCormick Place is home can be reached via bus, subway, or Metra trains! See more here.