Interreligious Earth Day Dialogue (April 2026)

Faith communities unite for Earth Day dialogue on care for creation

(From Catholic News)

Participants at the Interreligious Earth Day Dialogue 2026 organised by Caritas Singapore. Photos: Caritas Singapore.

As climate change increasingly affects lives and livelihoods, faith communities offer the moral language and spiritual conviction to inspire change.

Speaking at the Interreligious Earth Day Dialogue 2026 on April 22, Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action, Ravi Menon, said religions can help shape the values and habits needed for a more sustainable future.

Held at the Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre in Yishun, the event was organised by Caritas Singapore, with support from the Archdiocesan Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism Centre of Singapore (AIRDECS).

Titled Many Faiths, One World, it brought together leaders, youth representatives, and members from Singapore’s major faith traditions to strengthen interreligious friendship and explore how religious communities can respond to today’s environmental challenges.

More than 70 participants representing nine religions, various religious communities and faith-based organisations, as well as other institutions and government bodies attended.

Going beyond boundaries

From left: Friar Justin Lim OFM, Mr Saw Cheng Boon (Buddha’s Light Association), and Venerable Miao Tan (Advisor to Education and Learning Department, Fo Guang Shan Hsingma Temple) at the event.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh Hanyan, who was guest of honour, reminded the audience that “caring for our environment transcends religious boundaries, even as each faith tradition teaches us to respect it in their own way” and expressed her encouragement for all to continue to be “ambassadors in your communities”.

The event also included a keynote address by Mr Menon, an interreligious reflection and prayer, and a workshop on collaborative environmental action.

Participants discussed how their faith communities have been moving towards sustainability, and what their goals, interests and actions are for the year ahead across six focus areas – sustainability education, nature regeneration, reducing consumerism, community resilience and empowerment, green buildings, and ecological spirituality.

Care for humanity

Venerable Shi You Guang (Chairman, Public Relations Committee, Singapore Buddhist Federation), Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib (Centre for Interfaith Understanding), Veron Yeo (Our Father’s World), Brian Theng (ACCIRD), Ms Janet Ang (Non-Resident Ambassador of Singapore to the Holy See), Mr K Elango (Inter-Religious Organisation) sharing how their communities embrace and practise Care for Creation.

Caritas Singapore Chairperson Agnes Liew said care for the environment is closely tied to care for people, especially the vulnerable, who are often most affected by environmental and social challenges.

The dialogue was not simply about “going green”, but about moral responsibility, solidarity, and the protection of both people and planet, she said.

Vicar General Msgr Peter Zhang CDD said those gathered had become “companions caring for our one shared home”, adding that faith communities are not merely institutions but “bearers of spiritual wisdom”, called to exercise moral leadership in the face of climate change, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss.

In the Catholic tradition, he said, this takes the form of “ecological spirituality” – a way of seeing the world not as something to dominate, but as something to “reverence, protect, and nurture”.

Ongoing efforts

Mr Gabriel Tay (AIRDECS) (L) and Ustaz Muhammad Luqman Hakim Roslan (An-Nahdhah Mosque & Harmony Centre) exchanging greetings with the gift of plants, writing messages of hope and encouragement for each other.

The event did not end with a formal declaration, but pointed towards continued collaboration.

In his closing remarks, Msgr Zhang said Caritas Singapore and AIRDECS hoped to provide ongoing platforms for dialogue, collaboration, and concrete initiatives through community projects, youth engagements and environmental action.

He hoped the dialogue would not remain “only at the level of words”, but move into action in communities, institutions and daily life.

“Today, we have witnessed people of different faiths and communities united not by uniformity but by a common purpose,” said Msgr Zhang, adding that it was a sign that another way was possible: “a way of care rather than indifference, cooperation rather than competition, hope rather than despair.”