Speakers
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Bishop Marika MarkovitsChurch of Sweden (Evangelical Lutheran), BishopMarika Markovits is a bishop of the Diocese of Linköping. It is one of the diocese with an active environmental work since far back. The diocese work is guided by “the CoS’s Roadmap for the Climate”, a strategy document in which one of the goals is for the diocese to be climate positive by 2030. Marika Markovits is former member of Stockholm municipality council for Agenda 2030. Before being ordained as a bishop, she was the cathedral dean in Stockholm. Marika Markovits is an author of several articles on social justice, as director of Stockholm City mission between 2004 and 2019.
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David Miron WapnerInterfaith Center for Sustainable Development , Board Chair
David has served in this position ince 2013. He engages at climate COPS, and leads Sustainable Technology Projects at Yoyah Group. For 12 years he managed US-Israel Science & Technology Commission. He co-founded the BrightSource Energy and was board chair of Heschel Center for Sustainability. He was president of Jerusalem’s leading Reform synagogue, Kehilat Kol Haneshama, and board member of Jewish National Fund for 8 years. The Los Angeles native moved to Israel in 1978.
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Meryne WarahGreenFaith, Global Organizing Director
Meryne Warah is Global Organising Director at Greenfaith, and is based in Nairobi, Kenya. She previously worked as Senior Project Director at the Panafrican Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), where she coordinated PACJA’s regional climate justice policy advocacy in 8 African countries. She also served as the Programme Officer for Gender, Environment and Climate Change at the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya.
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Rabbi Yonatan NerilThe Interfaith Center for Sustainable, Founder & Director
Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development. Raised in California, Yonatan completed an M.A. and B.A. from Stanford University with a global environmental focus , and received rabbinical ordination in Israel. He speaks internationally on religion and the environment, and co-organized thirteen interfaith environmental conferences in Israel and the U.S. He is the lead author and general editor of three books on Jewish environmental ethics, including Eco Bible, a bestseller in several Amazon Kindle categories. He lives with his wife, Shana and their two children in Jerusalem.
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Rev. James BhagwanPacific Conference of Churches, General Secretary
Rev. Bhagwan is an ordained minister of the Methodist Church in Fiji. Appointed by the General Assembly in 2018 he has been active in reviving PCC relationships, recruiting new partners and increasing the organisation’s visibility as well as introducing a five-year strategic plan. Rev Bhagwan holds a Bachelor of Divinity from the Pacific Theological College and a Masters in Theology from Korea.
Clergy Tell Stories From the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis – Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, GreenFaith
Many clergy find themselves on the frontlines of the climate crisis. At COP28, they will tell their stories and how their faith communities have been impacted by floods, fire, drought, and tornados, and how they respond as faith leaders, not only to rebuild, but to try to curb climate emergency by changing patterns of consumption within their faith communities.