Gopal D. Patel was the only faith voice on climate change at the TED Countdown Summit 2023 held July 11-14, 2023 in Detroit, MI.
His presentation (in the YouTube video above) was "to draw lessons from religion and spirituality that could support stronger environmental action."... He suggests there are unique characteristics of spiritual groups that can support the broader environmental movement, things like community, rituals, and purposeful action in the world." Gopal Patel submits that the Bagavita offers a Theory of Change.
“Religious and spiritual communities are some of the most enduring social movements in the history of the world. They have adapted to many crises throughout human history and bring a unique voice to this particular challenge,”~ Gopal Patel.
Biography
Gopal D. Patel (Gopal Lila das) has been a faith-based environmental activist, campaigner, and consultant for over 10 years, working in India, East Africa, Europe, and North America. He mobilizes faith communities for environmental advocacy and action around the world. He is an adviser to the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary Center and offers a Hindu perspective in addressing the global environmental crisis; Karenna Gore is the founder and executive director of the Center.
He has advised a number of interfaith and environmental initiatives over the last decade and currently co-chairs the United Nations Multi-faith Advisory Council and sits on the advisory board for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, helping to align stakeholders with the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which consists of global targets to be achieved by 2030 and beyond to safeguard and sustainably use biodiversity."
Patel is the Co-Founder and Director of Bhumi Global, a nonprofit organization that works to educate and mobilize Hindu communities globally for environmental action. Working with the Hindu community internationally, the Bhumi project aims to raise awareness and address the environmental challenges facing our planet. Mr. Gopal has served in this capacity since 2010 and has helped Bhumi become a leading voice on environmental issues for the global Hindu community.
Born and raised in England, Patel currently lives in the New York City Metro Area.
Institute for Science and Spirituality Trust (ISS) is the scientific study wing of ISKCON Delhi. They are a team of well-established scientists and scholars. Since its inception in 2011, ISS Delhi has organized several international conferences, has offered various courses on Indian Knowledge System (IKS), and has been engaged in cutting-edge research. They have a mission to advance Vedic science and philosophy in a modern scientific context.
ISS is working with the main objective of rekindling interest in spirituality within the scientific community whereby the latter evolves a spiritual, anti-material perspective; while at the same time helping spirituality develop a scientific and dogma-free outlook that is already built into its structure. "We started our journey in 2011. Since then, we have been conducting several seminars, workshops, dialogues, and conferences to harmonize two great pillars of our existence." You can follow ISS on Facebook.