Climate Change and Religion

Join us for a discussion on climate change and religion with a great panel of speakers.

Speakers include: 

Timothy Winter (Sheikh Abdul-Hakim Murad): Timothy is the Shaykh Zayed Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge.

Devin McLachlan: Devin McLachlan studied Folklore at Harvard University (1992-1996) and took a Masters of Divinity at Episcopal Divinity School, also in Cambridge Massachusetts, in 2002. Interfaith Advisor to the Bishop of Ely, Devin is the Associate Vicar of the University Church and a member of the Multifaith and Spirituality Forum at Cambridge as well as co-convener of the Deans and Chaplains at Cambridge. A former chaplain at Jesus College, Cambridge, and at Brent House at the University of Chicago, Devin is a priest in the Episcopal Church (USA) working in the Church of England.

Perses Bilimoria: Perses holds a BCom (Hons) from Bombay University. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Earthsoul Bio Products, India’s first, compostable and biodegradable product manufacturer. He has presented papers on various environmental issues both in India and abroad. He has also been involved with climate change research since 2001 and, more recently, has participated at various climate change sustainability conferences held globally. He currently serves as a consultant to several municipal bodies, MNC’s, and Indian government advisory panels on climate change, waste management and the environment. He sits on the board of several public listed companies in India as an independent director. Perses has recently been appointed as Honorary Consul for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa.

Zareen Taj Islam: Zareen is Trustee of Muslim Women's Association of Edinburgh and a Cambridge resident. She has worked with the Edinburgh Muslim community to raise awareness of Climate change issues over the last 15 years. Leading up to COP 26 she was an organiser for Cambridge actions led by the people to address local climate issues and support global initiatives.

Peninnah Serrano: Peninnah is a member of the Cambridge Jewish Residents Association, Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue, Cambridge Deputy for Board of British Jews and Chair of the Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum. Peninnah is both passionate about breaking down barriers and misconceptions and building bridges between faith groups, thus enabling communities to work more closely together and aspiring for a deeper awareness plus practical ways to care more for each other and the planet we share.

Facilitator: 

Tejas Rao: Tejas is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, where he is a Nehru Trust Scholar, and Research Assistant at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy. He is also Manager at the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law. His research examines narratives and the political economy of international law-making, with a specific focus on epistemic communities and international environmental law. He has previously taught at SOAS, University of London, and the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He holds an LLM from the University of Cambridge (as JN Tata Scholar), and a B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) from the Gujarat National Law University. With a cross-cutting interest across the Sustainable Development Goals, he also volunteers time as Operations Co-Lead with Project EduAccess, which aims to improve the representation in higher education of marginalized communities in South Asia by providing application mentorship and guidance.