EcoSikh Launches Ten Years Action Plan at UN Faiths Meeting in Bristol

September 10, 2015 Bristol, UK; EcoSikh President, Dr. Rajwant Singh and South Asia Project Manager, Ravneet Singh presented its 10 years Sikh Environmental Action Plan, at a meeting with senior UN officials in Bristol, UK, in coherence to UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN Faiths Meeting, co-hosted by ARC and UNDP was also attended by representatives from the United Nations, the World Bank, The Nature Conservancy, WWF and the Governments of France and Germany.

Dr. Rajwant Singh said, “In next ten years EcoSikh will be focusing on major projects working with international institutions like World Bank, WWF and R20, (an institution formed by Arnold Schwarzenegger) to create and implement many development and environmental projects in Amritsar as well as in Pakistan on the sites related to Guru Nanak dev. We also envision projects to create major push towards organic farming among Sikh farmers in Punjab and awareness campaigns in Punjab and elsewhere focused on healthful living.”
“EcoSikh is also exploring international projects in England, where we will be working with several governmental and social institutions on environmental issues and climate change agenda. EcoSikh is working closely with the White House on the Climate Change issues and will be partnering with the local bodies for the developmental projects in North America.” Added Dr. Singh.
The world religions including Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Shintoism, also declared they could do to develop micro credit schemes for the poor, increase access to education, plant trees, invest in clean energy and green pilgrimage.

Ravneet Singh, “One of the focus areas of EcoSikh will remain on educating the Sikh preachers and conducting youth workshops internationally to create Sikh leadership in taking environmental advocacy roles. Our Green Gurdwara project aims to reach out 50,000 Gurdwaras across the globe. It will be an international effort that will promote green energy, organic food and planet friendly lifestyles in the Sikh community.”
“EcoSikh has already started a major plantation drive in the holy city of Amritsar, it has also purchased a digger to expanding this activity. We are connecting employment related activity leading to sustainable and wholesome development of Punjab with the Sikh diaspora and we already got a good response from Sikh community in England.”

ARC Secretary General Martin Palmer said “The Bristol Commitments are specific, faith-related, detailed programmes of work by faith communities from around the world, each inspired by their own values and beliefs, and will make a significant contribution to improving life for millions of people around the world.

Paul Ladd, UNDP Director Post-2015 Team, said: “The world’s faith communities will play an important role in the upcoming implementation of the new agenda, mobilizing people around the world to support the achievement of the 17 SDGs by 2030. More than 80% of the world’s people express a religious affiliation. Knowing this, it becomes clear that the UN needs to work closely with faith communities over the next 15 years if the new Global Goals for Sustainable Development are to be achieved.”