Year
2008
12th GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FORUM
de Poort, The Netherlands, 20 September 2008
Report
The 12th General Assembly of the International Environment Forum was held during the 12th Annual Conference of the IEF in de Poort, The Netherlands, on 20 September 2008, from 18:45 to 20:00.
Opening of the General Assembly
The General Assembly was opened, with 15 members (Annex 1) and four guests
attending. After a round of introductions of all present, two tellers were
appointed. Officers of the General Assembly were elected by secret ballot,
with Arthur Dahl elected as chair and Sylvia Karlsson as secretary. The
draft agenda was approved.
Annual report
The annual report of the International Environment Forum (Annual
Report 2007-2008) was presented and approved, with comments invited
from attending members who had carried out activities during the year.
Election of the Governing Board
Members voted both in person and by e-mail. There were 20 votes cast: 6
via email and 14 in person). One ballot was invalid.
The following governing board members were elected: Arthur Dahl
(Switzerland), Sylvia Karlsson (Finland), Victoria Thoresen (Norway), Irma
Allen (Swaziland), Peter Adriance (USA), Duncan Hanks (Canada) and Charles
Boyle (Australia).
Consultation on activities and
priorities for the coming year
It was proposed to create a calendar of events that IEF members are taking
part in (like a weblog) on our website. The lack of helpers for the
website could be addressed by having a weblog where members submit
stories. Emily Firth offered to set up a project site on the IEF website
which could mirror the EBBF blog with projects which members are doing.
Beth Bowen volunteered to be an issue monitor for climate change and
health.
It was proposed that we need regional monitors to identify meetings coming
up that IEF members could attend. One idea to get help would be to get an
intern; even if we do not have an office, they could work from home.
More information should be spread about how to join the IEF.
It was proposed that the letter of 24 March 2008 which the National
Spiritual Assembly of Canada sent to all groups after the 11th IEF
conference encouraging them to "demonstrate ever-increasing sensitivity to
environmental issues in the design and implementation of community
activities" could be more widely shared.
Baha’i communities need people who can raise awareness about environmental
issues. The environment makes an excellent summer school topic, and
course materials could be made available on the web site. Larry
Staudt has been asked to do a seminar at the Green Acre Bahá'à School
(USA) next summer.
It was suggested that the Board take advantage of the climate statement
from the Bahá'à International Community when it comes out. One idea was to
have the next IEF conference in conjunction with the 15th Conference of
the Parties of the Climate Convention in Copenhagen in December 2009. We
could explore the possibility to apply for observer status with UNFCCC.
It would be nice if the conference videos could be made available on DVD
and sent to those who do not have internet.
Closing
Since there was no other business raised, the chair closed the General
Assembly and thanked everyone for attending.
ANNEX 1 - Participating members
Irma Allen, Beth Bowen, Diana Cartwright, Arthur Dahl, Emily Firth, Steve Hall, Sylvia Karlsson, Bruce Liggitt, Laurent Mesbah, Wendi Momen, Joachim Monkelbaan, Gordon Naylor, Lawrence Staudt, Victoria Thoresen, Daniel Truran
See the Annual Report 2007-2008 of the IEF