Dialogue Archive Jan-Jun 2022

Anisa Bek Derna AKA Nissa Bek is a media personality and a climate activist and the founder of Project Mulan, a youth-led project that aims to spread and achieve the UN Development Programme’s sustainable development goals in Libya. Bek Derna was Libya’s representative at @connect4climate’s Youth Driving Ambition (2021 PreCOP26 in Milan). In addition to her personal projects she is the national leader of Let’s Do it and Fridays for Future in Libya. 

Ahmed Elhadj Taieb, an environmental blogger, is a 23-year-old Environmental Science student with a major in waste management, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering. Taieb is General Secretary of the Youth for Climate Tunisia Movement and is also a Youth Ambassador with the international movement Break Free from Plastic. Ahmed Elhadj Taieb is one of the youngest Tunisians to participate in COP as part of the official delegation and recently was named one of the 10 African youth climate activists that are changing the face of the planet. 

Mitzi Jonelle Tan is a full-time climate justice activist based in Metro Manila, Philippines. She is the convenor and international spokesperson for Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines YACAP, the Fridays For Future of the Philippines. She is also an organizer with FFF International and FFF MAPA (Most Affected Peoples and Areas) making sure that especially voices from the Global South are heard, amplified, and given space.

Dave Chapman runs Long Wind Farm in Vermont and is the Executive Director of the Real Organic Project. He is a founding member of the Vermont Organic Farmers. He has been active in the movement to Keep The Soil In Organic. He is proud to be a current member of the Policy Committee of the Organic Farmers Association. He served on the USDA Hydroponic Task Force. Dave serves in a Farmer position.  

Spencer Fenniman is the Director of Farming Operations at Hawthorne Valley Farm, a 900 acre multi-functional organic and biodynamic farm in Ghent, NY. The non-profit Hawthorne Valley Association has for 50 years worked to renew soil, society and the self through education, agriculture and the arts. Spencer has managed fields and fertility since arriving in 2012, and took over the management of the farming operations in 2017. Spencer loves the daily challenges of working with the land. Farming takes deep knowledge, listening, creativity, dedication and great teachers. He lives in sight of the farm with his wife and 2 children.  

Ango Sara Tashker has been an organic farmer and residential practitioner at San Francisco Zen Center since 2002. From 2007 she has helped lead Green Gulch Farm’s six-month Organic Farm and Garden Apprenticeship for people interested in integrating residential Zen Buddhist practice and hands-on training in organic farming and gardening. She loves that her every activity is the fertile ground of Zen practice: growing food, relating to community, being a mother, appreciating the breath and body. In fall 2011 she served as Shuso (Head Student) at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center with Abbots Myogen Steve Stücky and Sojun Mel Weitsman. She currently serves as Director of Green Gulch Farm.

Dr. Riki Ott is a marine toxicologist and former Alaska commercial fisher ma’am who found her Path and Voice during the transformative crucible of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Accomplished in civic activism and grassroots engagement, she inspires youth and adults with accessible, science- and civics-based trainings, and with Stories, to engage people in working together towards a healthy democracy and a healthy energy future. Dr. Riki Ott currently directs two projects through Earth Island Institute: The ALERT Project and Ultimate Civics.

Marine Scientist Robin Hadlock Seeley of Maine speaks about her decades of scientific work on local seaweed, including the study of the safe limits to harvesting, rather than proposed extensive removal under the guise of climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. She will also report on actions to stop a silver mine poised to endanger the coast.

This CSW66 Parallel event was led by Native American women to discuss survival and relationship to the natural world.  

Discernment will be towards the science, values, principles, and actions to address the climate emergency. We cannot fall for false climate solutions that do not respect the science, scale, and relational nature of ecosystems. The destructiveness of extractivism will be a focal point, whether we are considering the impacts of mining for metal or oil, or plans for excessive harvesting. The role of allies will also be addressed, towards building understanding and right action. 

Jamie Bissonette Lewey (Director, nkawadzowôgan: A Center for Healing and Transformation, Maine) moderates and brings out diverse Native perspectives for contemplation and action. Speakers: Theresa Dardar, a member of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe speaks to the vulnerability of her small community in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, one of the most fragile coastal areas in the world.  Climate change-induced storm disasters, extractive mining’s impacts, and sea-level rise impact her tribe and their land devastatingly, including forcing migration. 

Marine Scientist Robin Hadlock Seeley of Maine speaks on her decades of scientific work on local seaweed, including the study of the safe limits to harvesting, rather than proposed extensive removal under the guise of climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. She reports on actions to stop a silver mine poised to endanger the coast, rockweed forests in intertidal zones considered as sustainable seaweed cutting and the rockweed (Ascophyllum nodosum) industry of Maine and about the Maritime Provinces Maine Rockweed Coalition.

Dr. Riki Ott is a marine toxicologist and former Alaska commercial fisher ma’am who found her Path and Voice during the transformative crucible of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Accomplished in civic activism and grassroots engagement, she inspires youth and adults with accessible, science- and civics-based trainings, and with Stories, to engage people in working together towards a healthy democracy and a healthy energy future. Dr. Riki Ott currently directs two projects through Earth Island Institute: The ALERT Project and Ultimate Civics. 

Presented by the Temple of Understanding www.TempleofUnderstanding.org 

Co-sponsors: United Religions Initiative GreenFaith Bioneers UN Committee on the Rights of Indigenous People 

Audrey E. Kitagawa, J.D. (Moderator) is President and Founder of the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation, a platform for ushering in a purposeful and hopeful vision for humanity. She is President of the Light of Awareness International Spiritual Family and former Advisor to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict at the UN. Kitagawa is a UN Representative for the United Religions Initiative, Chair Emerita of the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns and an Ambassador for Religions for Peace. Kitagawa has been enstooled into the royal family as the Nekoso Hemaa, (i.e. Queen Mother of Development), of Ajiyamanti in Ghana, West Africa, and has a school which she helped to build named after her, the Nana Ode Anyankobea Junior Secondary School. She is the recipient of the Spirit of the UN Award and was conferred an Honorary Interfaith Minister degree by the New Seminary.   

Dr. Mindje Kolomba Bertin teaches Pediatric Medicine at the School of Medicine, University of Kamina in the DR Congo. After his studies in Medicine at the University of Kamina (2015), he obtained a certificate in the “Fundamentals of Epidemiology” (University of Washington, 2021). In 2008 he received specialized training in Aircraft, Fire-fighter and Rescue Procedures" organized by the MONUC (The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo).   

Dr. Prof. Muhigirwa Rusembuka Ferdinand S.J. is a Jesuit Father and President and Rector of Loyola University of Congo where he is also a Professor of Social Philosophy. He received his training in the Congo, Kenya, Italy, Canada, and the USA. After research at Boston College, he obtained his PhD in Philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome with a thesis on Human Development. Dr. Prof. Muhigirwa has written extensively on issues of Development in Central Africa. Dr. Prof. Muhigirwa is a Board Member of CERN (Episcopal Commission for Natural Resources) of the Observatory National Episcopal Conference of Bishops of Congo (CENCO). As an expert in Development and Mining governance in the Congo, he has spoken at the US Senate, at the European Parliament, at the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), at the Heads of State Summit.   

Dr. Mutombo Nkulu-N’Sengha was born in the DR Congo and is a Professor at California State University, Northridge, Religious Studies Department, where he created the Global Village Forum. He teaches courses in African Religions, American's Religious Diversity, and comparative religions. He is a member of the Global Dialogue Institute, and of the Center for Global Ethics. After a Masters in Philosophy (in Africa) and a Masters in Theology (Rome), he pursued graduate studies in the USA where he prepared a Doctorate in Religion and Human Rights at Temple University (Philadelphia) and a Masters in African American Studies. He is presently working on two projects: on just war theory and the African response to war on terror; and African religion and violence against women. He is also working on two books: one on African theology of human rights, and the other on African contributions to world religions and world peace.  

Presented by the Temple of Understanding in collaboration with the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation  

David R. Loy is a professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy, a prolific writer, and a teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Buddhism. His books include Money Sex War Karma, A New Buddhist Path, and most recently Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis. He is especially concerned about social and ecological issues. In addition to offering workshops and meditation retreats, he is one of the founders of the new Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near Boulder, Colorado. In June 2014, David received an honorary degree from Carleton College, his alma mater, during its 2014 Commencement. In April 2016 David returned his honorary degree, to protest the decision of the Board of Trustees not to divest from fossil fuel investments. 

Rajesh Purohit, of Hindu Climate Action, Oxford, UK, is currently working within the Analytics and Automation. Outside of work, he has a passion for teaching and learning about Sanātana Vedic Dharma (Hinduism) and how we can practically implement the divine thoughts of our Ṛṣi’s (Spiritual Scientists). His understanding of these teachings has led to an interest in driving environmental changes. The unity and message of Hinduism – Vasudhaiv Kutumbakum – to see the ‘World as One Family’ is the drive force and life breath of all our actions and activities

Rajesh Purohit, of Hindu Climate Action, Oxford, UK, is currently working within the Analytics and Automation. Outside of work, he has a passion for teaching and learning about Sanātana Vedic Dharma (Hinduism) and how we can practically implement the divine thoughts of our Ṛṣi’s (Spiritual Scientists). His understanding of these teachings has led to an interest in driving environmental changes. The unity and message of Hinduism – Vasudhaiv Kutumbakum – to see the ‘World as One Family’ is the drive force and life breath of all our actions and activities

David R. Loy is a professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy, a prolific writer, and a teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Buddhism. His books include Money Sex War Karma, A New Buddhist Path, and most recently Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis. He is especially concerned about social and ecological issues. In addition to offering workshops and meditation retreats, he is one of the founders of the new Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near Boulder, Colorado. In June 2014, David received an honorary degree from Carleton College, his alma mater, during its 2014 Commencement. In April 2016 David returned his honorary degree, to protest the decision of the Board of Trustees not to divest from fossil fuel investments.