History was made today at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Durban. For the Interfaith communities around the world that have joined hands and voices in Durban, today was a day of culmination. Today marked a pivitol turning point in the international interfaith communities' stance on climate change. The Interfaith Declaration on Climate Change was handed over to the COP17 officials at 14:00  in the Kosi Palm room at the ICC.

The declaration is a call to all global leaders and citizens of our planet, a call to shift our focus away from the paths of greed and consumption. A call to embrace a new way of living, a way that seeks to empower all people, from all places and provide for the needs of all of God's creation through the abudance He has provided us.

I had the honor of attending the African Council of Religious Leaders (ACRL) forum on Wednesday. Faith leaders from across Africa came together to discuss the issues surrounding climate change and the dire situation faced by the people of this continent. As part of the Religions For Peace coaliton, the following guiding principles embody their work throughout Africa and beyond:

1) Respect religious differences

2) Act on deeply held & widely shared values

3) Preserve the identity of each reilgious community

4) Honor the different ways religious communities are organized

5) Support locally led multi-religious structures

A decision was made to further mobilize inter-religious leaders from the Southern African region beyond COP17, to tackle the broader base of challenges shared by all people of faith within the sub-region.

The full text of the global Interfaith Delegation on Climate Change (IDCC) signed by interfaith leaders from across the world and delivered today in Durban by IDCC Director, Dr. Stuart Scott and global peace activist Ela Ghandi (granddaughter of Mohandas Gandhi) can be found below:

  The nurturing and respect for Life is a central doctrine of all faiths on Earth. Yet today we are endangering life on Earth with dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions. These gases are destabilizing the global climate system, heating the Earth, acidifying the oceans, and putting both humanity and all living creatures at unacceptable risk.

The extraordinary delicacy of Nature’s balance is becoming increasingly apparent, even as human actions inflict ever larger, more dangerous and potentially irreversible changes on the indivisible web of atmosphere, earth, ocean and life that is creation. Today our faiths stand united in their call to care for the Earth, and to protect the poor and the suffering. Strong action on climate change is imperative by the principles and traditions of our faiths and the collective compassion, wisdom and leadership of humanity. We recognize the science of climate change, and we call for global leaders to adopt strong, binding, science based targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases in order to avert the worst dangers of a climate crisis. We urge the nations of Earth to ensure that those who will suffer under climate induced changes such as more severe storms, floods, droughts and rising seas, be aided to adapt, survive and equitably prosper.

We recognize that climate change is not merely an economic or technical problem, but rather at its core is a moral, spiritual and cultural one. We therefore pledge to join together to teach and guide the people who follow the call of our faiths. We must all learn to live together within the shared limits of our planet.

We recognize that just as climate change presents us with great challenges, so too it offers great opportunities. Mitigating climate change can stimulate economies sustainably, protect our planet, lift up the poor, and unite to a common cause people threatened by a common danger. Assisting vulnerable communities and species to survive and adapt to climate change fulfills our calling to wisdom, mercy, and the highest of human moral and ethical values.

We commit ourselves to action – to changing our habits, our choices, and the way we see the world – to learning and teaching our families, friends, and faiths – to conserving the limited resources of our home, planet Earth, and preserving the climate conditions upon which life depends.

In this spirit, we call upon our leaders, those of our faiths, and all people of Earth to accept the reality of the common danger we face, the imperative and responsibility for immediate and decisive action, and the opportunity to change.