Quakers host major climate justice festival
Friends House, the home of Quakers in Britain, played host to a major climate justice festival in London this weekend, with speakers including Mikaela Loach, Mick Lynch and Naomi Klein.
Quakers in Britain held a session on spiritual activism as part of the And Still We Rise Festival organised by charity War on Want and attended by almost 1,000 people.
With 2024 set to be the biggest election year in history, the one-day festival focussed on the interconnections between climate, inequality, and injustice crises.
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In this bumper election year, seeing all our struggles as interconnected has never been so important
- Paul Parker
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Through a series of talks, workshops and training sessions, the event aimed to forge global solidarity, and build solutions to these intersecting global crises.
Speakers included Indigenous activists from Latin America, defending their land from destructive mining corporations; Sri Lankan garment workers; and workers' rights advocates from Pakistan.
Elections are due in at least 64 countries this year, as well as the European Union, representing 49 per cent of the world's population.
Meanwhile, from wildfires in Chile to floods in Pakistan, countries who have done the least to contribute to the climate emergency find themselves on the frontline of dealing with it.
Quakers in Britain Recording Clerk Paul Parker said: “Quakers believe that there is that of God in everyone, equality is absolutely at the core of our faith.
“In this bumper election year, seeing all our struggles as interconnected has never been so important.
“Quakers recognise that our current economic system fuels inequality and climate breakdown. We were delighted to support this festival, and all those working so hard for global climate justice."