Starting 26 November we'll be blogging from Durban, South Africa as the events of COP17 unfold. Be sure to check back regularly for updates, information, and photos. Join us as we seek climate justice for all of God's creation!

In just over an hour from now the gates of Kings Park Stadium in Durban will open. Thousands of Multi-Faith delegates and civil society members will stream in from all corners of the globe for a very special event.

The We Have Faith Campaign-Act Now For Climate Justice will be the hosts of this year's COP17 Inter-Faith kick-off concert & rally. Among the headliners South African hip-hop artists HHP and world renowened Ladysmith Black Mambazo will preform. The event will be hosted by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and will culminate with a grand procession.  A replica of Noah's Ark, filled with an Inter-faith petition promoting a legally-binding treaty for all members involved, which will be presented by Tutu to the incoming COP17 minister.

We are definitely ready to rock Durban! Make your voices heard across the world during the next  two weeks...we need your help, and so does God's amazing creation!

It didn't take long for Desmond Tutu to deliver a clear and resounding message to the COP17 delegation and those gathered at Durban's King's Park. "If you don't stop now, no one will survive (the consequences), not only the poor in our world, but the rich and powerul will be destroyed!" His stark message was met with great applause. It was Tutu at his best...laughing, dancing, and delivering a deeply moving account of God's love for us all. "There is only one race of people, the human race. We must not let each other down! God created us to live in harmony with one another and we must!", he shouted. The theme of today's We Have Faith Campaign Climate Justice Rally was clear, it was the message of our interconnected nature, our ubuntu: People are people through other people. I pray that the delegates from around the world heed these wise words in the coming days, God willing, it will be the cornerstone of their deliberation. A far fetched idea? Maybe...but I have FAITH...do you?

The world's eyes turned to the port city of Durban, South Africa today. As 30,000 delegates from across the globe streamed into various points around town to begin the deliberation of what many believe to be one of the most important meetings in the history of humankind. Those aren't my words but the words of South African anti-apartheid activist and current Green Peace International Executive Director, Kumi Naidoo.

Naidoo was engaged in a discussion today among some of Africa's leading community and faith-based leaders at the Diakonia Centre. Today's "Africans Dealing with Climate Change: Citizens Approach to COP17" was the first meeting I attended at this year's COP inter-faith dialogue program. It is a two day conference sponsored by Idasa (African Democracy Institute) and includes presentations from Hon Awudu Mbaya (president of the Pan-African Network on Climate Change), Dr. Nancy Dubosse and Richard Calland (both of Indasa) and Dr. Naidoo.

The themes covered in today's presentations included:

1) Africa's role within the climate change negotiations

2) The development of an "African Green Climate Fund" to aid African nations in adaptation efforts to deal witht he changes in climate

3) The lack of political will in adopting concrete solutions to climate change

4) The need to educate, equip, and mobilize the people of Africa in regards to the climate justice movement.

Some of the most interesting insights to come out of today's discussions included the follow:

1) 3.1 billion people have acces to electricity worldwide, yet only 30% of Africans have access to it

2) The effects of climate change have already begun to bring massive destruction to the African continent in the form of floods, droughts, and desertification. And while Africa will be untimately bare the biggest brunt from the effects of climate change, it is the lowest emitter of the 6 populated continents

3) Of Africa's 53 nations, only 8 have the "right of access to information" within their public and international policy structures

4) Foreign aid and international development within Africa is indeed a form of investment and must be seen as such (essentially everything comes at a cost)

5) The single greatest challenge facing Africa might be the lack of information sharing structures and legislation (information=international leverage in the negotiation process)

6) Africa must not ask itself the question "Where do we get the money to mitigate and adapt Africa to climate change?" but instead we should ask the following question "How do WE pull ourselves out of this challenge?" (It was stated by Dr. Dubosse that the first question is framed in the mindset of colonialism, the second frees our minds from it)

Some of my favorite quotes came from Green Peace's Dr. Naidoo, including:

"We are living in a global state of environmental apartheid. Separated along the lines of rich and poor, the rich consume as they please and the poor suffer from their consumption."

"Forget about the arms race...the green techonolgy (race) will become the dominant race in determining the world's greatest superpower." (In reference to Naidoo's meeting with China's governmental leaders on climate change)

"The key to addressing climate change is thinking outside the box, infact we should throw the box away."

As you can see we hit the ground running today. This will certainly not be a conference for the weak of heart! While the inter-faith perspective is one steeped in hope and unity, the road ahead will be long and grinding for all delegates involved. Today we were woken up to the sobering realities that Africa faces in this journey. And while these words can be hard to swallow at times, they also inspire us to work harder towards our goals. To hope is to push one's self past the darkness of despair and into the light of possibility. It was South Africa that showed the world that hope is one of the most powerful forces on the planet, as it broke the shackles of apartheid in the 1990's.  Maybe it is appropraite then, that the most important of meetings is being hosted here. No better place to sow the seeds of climate justice, to sow the seeds of hope.

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.