Resolves of the Executive Council

Resolved, That the Executive Council, meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, from June 12-15, 2023, affirms the statement “Multi-Faith Response to the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework” put forward by the multifaith organization Faiths at Conference of Parties (COP) 15, from the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in 2022; and be it further

Resolved, That the Executive Council establishes biodiversity as a central priority for the Episcopal Church’s creation care strategies at church-wide, diocesan, congregational, and institutional levels; and encourage partnerships with other Anglicans around the Communion in supporting biodiversity; and be it further

Resolved, That this Council directs the Office of Government Relations to advocate for policy priorities that protect both biodiversity and the rights of indigenous and local communities, such as those priorities reflected in the Faiths at COP 15 statement, including a rightsbased approach to biodiversity management and aggressive and enforceable conservation goals; and be it further

Resolved, That the Executive Council calls the Task Force for Care of Creation and Environmental Racism to support further interdisciplinary research into and discussion of the importance of biodiversity, the strengths and limitations of biodiversity as an ethical value, and strategies for churches and organizations to protect and promote biodiversity; and be it further

Resolved, That the Executive Council commends to its Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Church Pension Group the World Bank Group report on biodiversity financing, “Mobilizing Private Finance for Nature,” and calls on them to report back to the Executive Council before General Convention 2024 with recommendations for appropriate implementation of the insights of the report.