The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environment agenda, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with URI-Africa on October 29, 2018, and with URI-Global on August 19, 2020, agreeing to collaborate on leveraging the wisdom, power and influence of faith-based and spiritual communities in mobilizing the citizenry in environmental awareness and action, including but not limited to:
- working together on the issue of faith and environmental sustainability;
- enhancing and facilitating interfaith cooperation and fostering consistent working partnership between UNEP and religious leaders from different faith traditions on environmental sustainability issues;
- promoting the role of religious leaders in the stewardship of Mother Earth in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
- mobilizing interfaith and faith-based organizations, and religious and spiritual leaders for the implementation of the Faith for Earth and Interfaith Rainforest Initiative of UNEP;
- enhancing participatory contribution of faith based organizations to bridging policy and operational gaps aimed at implementing the Paris Agreement and the SDGs;
- actively engaging followers of different religions in environmental campaigns;
- collaborating in promoting of the Green Rule Initiative, which says “Do unto the Earth as you would have it do unto you;” and
- observing the World Environment Day on the 5th of June of each year.
