Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) works to nurture a spiritual transformation in people’s relationship with the living world. In responding to critical issues of our time, such as climate change, biodiversity, overpopulation, and depletion of oceans and soil, QEW seeks to instill a hope among Friends that is more powerful than the forces leading to despair.
On the international stage, QEW sent delegations to United Nations negotiations on climate change, hosting two separate UN side events at SB60 in Bonn, Germany, in June and at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York City in July. QEW is the sole Quaker organization registered for the next UN Biodiversity Conference (to the Convention on Biological Diversity) to be held in Cali, Colombia, in late October.
General Secretary Keith Runyan launched “QEW on the Road” in May. He visited Friends gatherings from Philadelphia, Pa., to South Africa, conducting over 20 workshops and webinars in two months.
This year, QEW is launching a global Quaker Climate Map (quakerearthcare.org/map), which visualizes the geographic range of all Friends’ efforts to address climate change. This is phase one of QEW’s strategic plan and campaign to build a Quaker climate movement.
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