May 2026
A three-dimensional rendering of the metaphor of Indra’s Net
(By Bunyk, CC BY 4.0)
Greetings and welcome to our May update. This comes a bit earlier than usual because of the Bank Holiday weekend and local elections on 7 May.
To begin with, let me reiterate that we as a network are opposed to any form of racism and religiously motivated hatred, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. We send prayers of healing and solidarity not only to the victims of the Golders Green attack and their loved ones, but also to our Jewish members and friends who are feeling increasingly frightened and vulnerable. I hope the rest of this update provides a space for resistance against the climate of fear and division triggered by attacks like this.
Many cultures and faith traditions observe moments and rituals of renewal to mark the arrival of a new season. In the northern hemisphere, the last few weeks have seen numerous celebrations, including Easter, Pesach, Ugadi, and Vaisakhi. Because of the movement of the lunar Hijri calendar for Muslims, even Eid al-Fitr became a kind of spring festival this year.
Me, I quite enjoy spring cleaning. There is of course a practical, sustainable aspect, since spring cleaning is an opportunity to rethink how I consume and dispose of things. Nowadays, instead of chucking away anything I deem to be junk, I take time to consider what I am able to repair, repurpose, regift, or donate.
The mindfulness and intentionality in this ritual makes me think of Wesak, the Buddhist festival that falls at the end of May. Wesak marks the Buddha’s birthday and, for some Buddhists, his enlightenment and death, too. The Buddha’s enlightenment represents liberation from ignorance and suffering and awakening to a life of wisdom, peace, lovingkindness, and respect for all beings. This seems to me like the ultimate cosmic act of soul decluttering.
These interfaith interconnections remind me of the metaphor of the jewelled net of Indra, which I first learned about from our Buddhist members. Basically, imagine a cosmic web that stretches out infinitely in all directions with a jewel at each intersection. Each jewel reflects all the others, and each reflection in turn contains every other jewel, creating an endless process of mutual reflection. This image illustrates profound interconnectedness – everything in existence is linked, with each part containing and reflecting the whole. Originating from a story about the Vedic god Indra but developed in Buddhist thought, the metaphor tells us that no element exists independently. All phenomena arise in relation to one another in an infinite, interdependent universe.
It is easy to feel helpless in the face of growing injustice, violence, ecocide, and genocide. But Indra’s net reminds us not only that each of us is a jewel, but that we are all interconnected. The implication of this insight is beautifully expressed by Shug Avery in Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple: ‘I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed.’
You are a jewel. I am a jewel. Also – forgive me for mixing metaphors – if someone cuts your arm, I will bleed, and vice versa. This is basically the logical extension of what Martin Luther King Jr said, that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. The flipside of this is that upholding justice anywhere, and at any scale, can nurture justice everywhere.
Read on to find out how we can all create a million acts of hope together. You’ll find:
- An invitation to help us along our journey here at Faith for the Climate
- Details about our webinar and other upcoming events
- A special round up of the first global conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels
- A treasury of faith-inspired resources
- Opportunities and announcements from across our network.
An invitation to reflect on our journey so far
We are excited to share that we have begun our first ever evaluation of Faith for the Climate’s work, and would love to hear from you. The evaluation is being held by Farha Bi and Anu Priya, who bring deep experience in anti-oppression and social justice work, and whose approach is relational and grounded in care.
This evaluation is an opportunity for us to understand where our work is having meaningful impact, how it resonates across different communities and where we are being called to learn and grow. We are particularly interested in how this work has contributed to shifts in thinking, relationships and action between faith and climate spaces, and in honestly understanding our role within the bigger ecosystem of change we are a part of.
As part of this process, we are inviting reflections from across the network through a 10-15 minute online survey. Your voice matters, however you connect with this work – whether you have been part of direct actions, joined our gatherings and workshops, or engaged with our newsletter or follow us on social media. Each voice and experience is valuable to us. We are particularly mindful of the importance of making spaces for voices and experiences that are not always centred in faith and climate spaces, so we are especially keen to hear from those who identify as being marginalised by dominant societal structures.
The survey will remain open until 31 May 2026.
If you require this survey in another format or have any access needs, please feel free to get in touch with Anu at hello@anupriya.co.uk, and they will do their best to support you.
Join us for A Million Acts of Hope: Buddhist Perspectives, Wednesday 20 May, 1-2pm BST
We have a special treat since the festival of Wesak at the end of May effectively ushers in Buddhist Action Month in June. What better way to inspire A Million Acts of Hope than to find out what our Buddhist members are passionate about and what they’re up to? Join our webinar on Wednesday, 20 May, 1-2pm BST to find out more.
Confirmed speakers:
- Joe Mishan, XR Buddhists
- Olivia Fuchs, Eco Dharma Network
- rehena Harilall, Plum Village and Buddhists Across Traditions
- Venerable Thubten Drolma, Jamyang London Buddhist Centre
Monday, 11 May, 7-8.30pm BST (in person): Rivers of Life – the Spirituality of Rivers in Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Hear reflections on the symbolism of water and rivers, and how this can inspire us to live better lives, from Christian, Hindu and Islamic perspectives, including from our trustee Dr Sachi Patel. Happening at St John’s Waterloo – register here. This panel is part of the Rivers of Life festival (18 April to 22 May).
Saturday, 16 May, 9.45am-4.45pm BST (in person): Being Peace in the Face of War. Join this day of Buddhist wisdom teachings, and practices at the Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London. With a meditation at the Imperial War Museum. More details on Eventbrite.
Sunday, 17 May – Sunday, 24 May: Laudato Si’ Week 2026 invites us to move from hope to action. Hope is not passive; it is lived and shared through daily choices, community life, prayer, and concrete acts of care. This year reminds us that ecological conversion grows step by step – through relationships restored, creation protected, and communities strengthened. Find out more and get involved here.
Saturday, 30 May – Sunday, 31 May (in person): The Laudato Si’ Research Institute, in collaboration with the Al Mahdi Institute and the Cambridge Muslim College are organising a two-day formation course, Christian-Muslim Dialogues on Ecology. Find out more and register here.
Special: Santa Marta conference
Handing in our interfaith letter to Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, 15 April 2026. Left to right: Thomas Niblett (Joint Public Issues Team, JPIT), Canon Giles Goddard (Faith for the Climate), Ann Howell (Unitarians), Melanie Nazareth (Christian Climate Action), Ben Niblett (Quakers in Britain)
The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, wrapped up yesterday, Wednesday, 29 April. In a historic first, countries, subnational governments and other stakeholders convened to work on the practicalities of a just, orderly, and equitable transition in line with climate goals and the best available science. At Faith for the Climate, we have consistently focused on mobilising faith-inspired support for this work – a good introduction is our interfaith webinar on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Here’s a summary of the faith-inspired solidarity actions we contributed to in the lead-up to and during the conference:
- Together with Quakers in Britain and JPIT, we coordinated an interfaith letter to Ed Miliband, which we handed in on 15 April
- During the conference, we were part of the vigils of support at the Colombian and Dutch embassies, coordinated by the Quakers, who brought gifts of stroopwafels and coffee
- We endorsed the Faiths for a Fossil Free Future declaration, which is still open for signatures from faith institutions
- We endorsed a letter opposing investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) which, among other things, enable fossil fuel and mining corporations to sue governments that try to transition away from coal, oil, and gas, and destructive mining projects.
The Santa Marta conference is a beacon of hope in an increasingly turbulent world. It’s the start of a concrete, ethical, and equitable response to the profiteering of the fossil fuel industry from death and destruction amongst the global majority as well as an escalating cost-of-living scandal and skyrocketing energy bills in the UK.
If I cut a tree, my arm will bleed.
FAITH RESOURCES
Eco-Sikh UK volunteers at a joint event with the Canal and River Trust (pic courtesy of Amandeep Kaur Maan)
In the leadup to the local elections on Thursday, 7 May, the Catholic Diocesan Environmental Leads Network (DELs) has created an inspiring, informative set of resources to help engage with elected representatives regarding the care of our common home. Any faith community can adapt and use them from the website of the Ecological Conversion Group. In case you’re in a hurry, this document on how to engage with politicians is a fantastic start. And here are some downloadable additional resources.
In a special episode of the wonderful Nomad podcast, our chair and co-founder Canon Giles Goddard speaks with Halima Gosai Hussain (former chair of the Inclusive Mosque Initiative) and Natasha Chawla (who spoke at our interfaith Diwali webinar last October) for a wide-ranging exploration of faith, change, and the unexpected places where different spiritual rivers meet – Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and more. Highly recommended.
In this episode of the Planet Possible podcast, Amandeep Kaur Maan, founder of Eco-Sikh UK and Mumin Islam, a water industry leader, explore the relationship between faith, culture and ecology.
This piece from Emergence Magazine, ‘Making Light‘, moves between light and dark, and between climate grief and love, through the lens of Bealtaine, the Celtic May Day festival marking the beginning of summer.
Announcements and opportunities
Ahista Stories is a South Asian-led movement towards a fairer fashion system delivering educational talks and upcycling workshops across London, UK. They’re looking to grow their volunteer team supporting operations, event coordination and marketing, as well as their pool of freelance creatives, academics and campaigners who deliver talks and workshops at their events. Volunteers (unpaid), whether looking for regular or ad-hoc work, can apply here. Speakers and workshop facilitators (paid) can pitch ideas here.
EcoJudaism are recruiting a Nature Restoration Lead. There’s a strong multi-faith component to this role and people of any faith or belief are encouraged to apply – send your CV to welcome@ecojudaism.org.uk.
Green Christian are looking for two new Trustees. Want to be part of a movement that serves and cares for God’s gift of creation and prays and acts for the future of this beautiful world? Find out more and apply here. Deadline is 24 May.
The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva is accepting applications for Programme Assistants to join their Human Impacts of Climate Change (HICC) and Human Rights & Refugees (HRR) Programmes. Applications close on 8 May. Find out more here.
Thank you for reading this far, and well done for all that you do for people and planet. Once more, please help us to reflect on our journey so far so that we can continue growing and improving. It will take 10-15 minutes to fill this questionnaire, which will remain open until 31 May.
And I hope to see many of you at our special webinar, ‘A Million Acts of Hope: Buddhist Perspectives‘, on Wednesday, 20 May, 1-2pm BST.
In the spirit of this webinar, I’d like to close with this excerpt of a Bodhicitta (‘thought of awakening’) practice from the Bodhicharyāvatāra (The Way of the Bodhisattva) by Shantideva, the 8th-century CE Indian philosopher, Buddhist monk, poet, and scholar:
May I become food and drink in the aeons of famine for those poverty-stricken suffers.
May I be a doctor, medicine and nurse for all sick beings in the world until everyone is cured.
May I become never-ending wish-fulfilling treasures materialising in front of each of them as all the enjoyments they need.
May I be a guide for those who do not have a guide, a leader for those who journey, a boat for those who want to cross over, and all sorts of ships, bridges, beautiful parks for those who desire them, and light for those who need light.
And may I become beds for those who need a rest, and a servant to all who need servants.
May I also become the basic conditions for all sentient beings, such as earth or even the sky, which is indestructible.
May I always be the living conditions for all sentient beings until all sentient beings are enlightened.
Shanon Shah
Director at Faith for the Climate
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