Gopal Patel (Gopal Lila Das), who hosted a multifaith meeting at the NYC Climate Week events last week, was also interviewed by Religion News Service (RNS) about the close relationship between religious faith and urgent environmental issues facing the world.

Patel, who has worked for over a decade to educate and mobilize Hindu and other faith communities globally for environmental action, now advises several interfaith and environmental initiatives. Gopal is Founder of FutureFaith, a new think tank designed to empower leaders, decision-makers, and institutions to leverage the wisdom and insights of faith and spirituality to tackle global challenges. Gopal serves as a consultant, and presently with the G20 Global Land Initiative, as Co-Chair of the Advisory Board to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and was the Co-Chair, UN Multi-faith Advisory Council from 2019 – 2023.

At this week’s UN Climate Week events, Gopal Lila hosted a multifaith action and advocacy gathering which included 50 representatives from the Baha’i International Community, the Anglican Communion, and Soka Gakkai International, who each signed a Triple COP Call to Action statement. 

Gopal was also invited to attend Faith in Action, a convening hosted by the World Economic Forum. Over two days, 75 religious and business leaders came together to discuss issues related to Artificial Intelligence, the Moral Economy, and the Global Environmental Crisis. As part of this convening, Gopal participated in a live studio recording to discuss the role of faith-based organizations in the world today. This meeting in New York was a follow-up to the Faith in Action Report that Gopal co-authored last year.

Last July, Gopal Lila was invited to speak at TED’s Countdown Summit, the invite-only gathering held in Detroit, Michigan.  The event welcomed the world’s top leaders in technology, science, business, government, philanthropy, and faith to explore solutions to the growing problem of climate change. His presentation, entitled “The Unexpected Way Spirituality Connects to Climate Change,” has already garnered over 735,000 views and can be viewed here.

Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON’s Global Minister of Communications and Co-Director of ISKCON’s Environmental Initiative, was also interviewed for the article, emphasizing faith communities’ need to match their theology with concrete action in the world. You can read the full RNS article here.

To follow Gopal Lila’s work, please visit his LinkedIn profile. To learn more about ISKCON’s Environmental Initiative (IEI) and its Green Team projects and resources, please visit their website and follow them on Facebook.