Above: IRI Special Advisor Bishop Gunnar Stålsett greets His Holiness Pope Francis in March in the Vatican. Credit: Religions for Peace
Vatican City, Rome
In early March, IRI Special Advisor Bishop Gunnar Stålsett represented the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative at theInternational Conference on Religions and the SDGs at the Vatican. Bishop Stålsett briefed religious leaders in attendance (including Pope Francis) on IRI and its work to bring moral urgency and faith-based leadership to global efforts to end tropical deforestation. In addition to relaying the initiative’s commitment to working in collaboration to save the world’s rainforests and fulfil their potential to help achieve many of the SDGs as well as global climate goals, Bishop Stålsett welcomed other partner governments to join with the Government of Norway in supporting this initiative and expressed the IRI partnership’s commitment to continued collaboration with the Vatican to ensure the initiative achieves its potential. Read the press release here.