Annual Report 2024-2025

International Environment Forum 
29th Annual Report 
6 October 2024 – 29 November 2025

The 29th Annual Report of the International Environment Forum summarises the events and activities from 6 October 2024 to 29 November 2025 between two annual General Assemblies. The 2025 General Assembly is being held online on 29 November 2025.

28th IEF GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2024

The 28th General Assembly of the International Environment Forum was held over the Internet on the Zoom platform on 5 October 2024.

The meeting was held twice to accommodate members and associates from different time zones.

Participants at the first meeting: IEF members Arthur Dahl (Switzerland), Ron Mitchell (Australia), Todd Chirko (China), Monica Maghami (United Kingdom), Wendi Momen (United Kingdom), and Michael Semple (Switzerland), and guest Ferdows Mitchell (Australia)

Participants at the second meeting: IEF members Khela Baskett (USA), Diana Cartwright (Canada), Carol Curtis (USA), Arthur Dahl (Switzerland), Mark Griffin (USA), Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen (Netherlands), Laurent Mesbah (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Rebecca Teclemariam-Mesbah (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Christine Muller (USA), J. Thomas Pawlowski (USA), Victoria Thoresen (Norway), and IEF associate Erasmus Vinkhuyzen (Netherlands), and guest Carlotta Garcia (USA) Altogether, there were 19 participants from 8 countries with IEF President Arthur Dahl attending and chairing both meetings.

The 28th General Assembly Report is available here: https://iefworld.org/genass28 

IEF GOVERNING BOARD

IEF Board Election
The IEF had three tellers: Michael Richards, Carmel Momen, and Diana Cartwright. 25 ballots were cast, and 2 ballots were spoiled unfortunately, as not all names were IEF members.

The following IEF members were elected to the Governing Board for the coming year: Arthur Dahl (Switzerland), Christine Muller (USA), Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen (Netherlands), Wendi Momen (UK), Victoria Thoresen (Norway), Halldór Thorgeirsson (Iceland), and Laurent Mesbah (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the same as last year.

IEF Board Officer Election 
The IEF Board voted for Arthur Dahl as Chair and Christine Muller as General Secretary. 

IEF Board Meetings
At its first meeting, the IEF Board decided to appoint two non-voting board members for wider involvement and strengthening of the organization: Monica Maghami (UK) and Nava Khorram Ahmad (Latvia).

The Board held eight meetings during the almost 13 months covered by this report. This is likely the highest number of meetings the Board ever held. It reflects the increased activity of the IEF, especially the in-person conference. Each Board meeting consisted in online consultations over an average of two weeks and a Zoom consultation.

MEMBERSHIP

The Board has approved 18 new member and 17 associate applications during this reporting period. These numbers are higher than last year’s 15 new members and 9 associates. There are now 555 members and 184 associates. The number of newsletter subscribers increased from 74 to 112. All together they represent 96 countries.

IEF 29th ANNUAL CONFERENCE

After a series of virtual annual conferences, the International Environment Forum was excited to hold again an in-person conference. It took place at the Baha’i Training Centre near Oxford, UK, on 26 - 29 June 2025.

The overall conference topic was Building Capacity for Sustainability Discourse and Action. The program included study sessions, discussions, outdoor activities, and a hybrid panel. It was a weekend of reflection, collaboration, and action—where science, values, and community came together for a sustainable future.

The majority of participants came from the UK, but there were also representatives from Austria, Belize, Bosnia Herzegovina, France, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Latvia, The Netherlands, Norway, Puerto Rico, Serbia and Montenegro, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, and Yemen. Eight of nine board members (7 elected and 2 non-voting) were able to attend the conference. The total number of participants was 65, with 38 staying for the entire conference.

The participants expressed how much they enjoyed the conference and the opportunity to meet in person. This video clip (1:16) captures the spirit of the conference (thanks to Isabella Djalili-Devine). Some insights from conference participants after attending are shared here. 

The IEF thanks Manijeh and David Smith, the custodians at the Baha’i Training Centre, and all the volunteers who helped with the conference: Moojan Momen, Arthur Dahl, Ineke Gjisbers, Michael Richards, Sylvia Vinkhuyzen-Karlsson, Monica Maghami, Isabella Djalili-Devine, and others, and especially Wendi Momen, UK NSA member and IEF board member, who cooked all the meals together with Kian Golestani.

The IEF Secretary coordinated the conference. We learned that for a future in-person conference we would need more volunteers who are willing to take on full responsibility for specific aspects of the conference.

For a comprehensive conference report, go here: https://iefworld.org/conf29 

IEF WEBSITE AND MEMBERSHIP DATA BASE

As a virtual organisation with no finance and membership in over 90 countries, the IEF is dependent on the Internet both for email communication and for its website www.iefworld.org, where so much of its content and services are stored and made widely available. We are deeply grateful to the technical experts that keep all this functioning. Michael Semple, more recently supported by Jeffrey Barnes, keeps the content management system software up-to-date and generates the mailing lists and directory of members. Alexander Dahl has hosted the website and email servers from the very beginning. Without them, IEF would not exist.

Arthur Dahl reorganised the website content, so only the most recent postings are on the home page, and the approximately 1,500 pages are linked from one or more issue or content pages.

IEF NEWSLETTER LEAVES

The newsletter was published every month with the collaboration of Christine Muller (editor), Arthur Dahl (advisor), Todd Chirko (language editor for non-native English contributors), Bill Edgar (layout of the pdf version), Michael Semple (email list), and Michael Richards (mailing). 

Many thanks go to Tom Richards, son of IEF member Michael Richards, for his hard work dealing with technical problems with our mailing system!

We thank the following IEF members who have contributed articles to the newsletter during the time this report covers: Arthur Dahl (Switzerland), Rafael Shayani (Brazil), Victoria W. Thoresen (Norway), Christine Muller (USA), Darren Hedley (Canada), Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen (Netherlands), Austin Bowden-Kerby (Fiji), and Bill Kelly on behalf of the Ottawa Environment Forum.

IEF WEBINARS

IEF member Khela Baskett facilitated an IEF Webinar on the topic of Global biodiversity patterns, spiritual values, and transformative change on April 6. The speaker was IEF member Cedric Åkermark from Sweden. Participants from all over the world enjoyed a very interesting and thoughtfully prepared webinar and a lively discussion afterward.
You can find all the information about past webinars on this Webinar page.
The IEF webinar email list surpassed 500. Khela had to switch to sender.net.

IEF VIDEO PRODUCTIONS

IEF member Aaron Kelly has been editing all the videos produced for the IEF. The IEF greatly appreciates his professional expertise and generosity with offering his time. You can watch videos from IEF conferences, webinars, and from other thematically related events here.

IEF YOUTH TEAM

During the IEF annual conference in Bicester some of the youth participants met and planned to restart regular online youth gatherings. Since the end of August a biweekly youth gathering has been occurring online on Sundays at 17:00 CET. Youth have taken turns to host these gatherings. Topics have included the role of youth through the study of the BIC statement “In the Vanguard - The Role of Youth in an Ever-Advancing Global Society”. The number of participants is still modest, but by maintaining the regularity, the youth team hopes to over time increase the number of participants.

IEF SOCIAL MEDIA

The IEF is represented on three social media platforms. Kiara Ehsani manages the IEF Instagram page, Rebecca Teclemariam Mesbah the IEF Linkedin page, and Christine Muller the IEF Facebook page. We are looking for volunteers who can help with regular postings of relevant items.

IEF COURSES

IEF Climate Change Course 
The IEF offered a free online course on the Scientific and Spiritual Dimensions of Climate Change. It took place 1 September – 9 November 2025. There were 102 participants from 32 countries! Course participants met in weekly Zoom meetings to discuss the week’s topic of study. Two meetings were held for each unit in order to accommodate participants living in different time zones.
Faculty members were Christine Muller, Arthur Dahl, Laurent Mesbah, and Nava Khorram. The IEF thanks the following additional facilitators who assisted with the course: Hedieh Badavam, Keith Metzner, Leslie Cole, and Nava Sarracino.
The materials of this course have been available on the IEF website since 2009 (updated many times since then). They were designed primarily for study groups but can easily be used for self-study. It was the first time in its history that the IEF offered an online course!

Sustainable Development and Human Prosperity
The IEF uploaded on its website the materials of this six-unit course which anyone can study and use. This course explores the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability from both scientific and ethical/spiritual perspectives inspired by Bahá'í principles. It includes both readings and videos to illustrate the latest thinking on these issues that are at the centre of community concern, social action, public discourse and global debate.

For many years, the two courses above, developed by IEF members, were offered annually through the Wilmette Institute under the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States. Now, the IEF also made the materials of the Sustainable Development course available to anyone in the world. The IEF Board is planning to offer it as an online course in the spring of 2026.

DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MATERIALS

Discourse for Youth
Arthur Dahl prepared presentations on issues relevant for youth which can be studied in about a half hour. They may be useful in junior youth groups, youth discussions, classes and institutes. They briefly explain each issue and include relevant quotes from the Bahá'í writings, statements of the Bahá'í International Community, and other sources. https://iefworld.org/youth_discourse

Transformative Change: A Bahá’í Perspective on the IPBES Assessment
The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) issued its Transformative Change Assessment in 2024 that makes science-based recommendations on how to transform society fundamentally to protect biodiversity and become sustainable. Arthur Lyon Dahl Ph.D., President of the International Environment Forum, reported on this important assessment, and prepared a compilation that shows how this expert scientific view is completely compatible with Bahá’í principles. It follows the outline of the assessment’s Summary for Policymakers. This compilation is also available on the website of IF20.

GLOBAL ETHICAL STOCKTAKE

The Global Ethical Stocktake Circle and the Brazilian Presidency of COP30 invited reflections on the values, behaviors, and responsibilities that must be transformed so that the commitments made at the UN Climate Conferences become a reality. The IEF invited some of its members around the world to organise dialogues around the five questions proposed by the Brazilian Presidency, which has now renamed it the Global Ethical Balance Dialogue.

The IEF compiled Baha’i texts that relate to the questions discussed at the dialogues: https://iefworld.org/GlobalEthicalStocktake 

IEF Members Contributions to the Pre-COP30 Dialogues, the Global Ethical Stocktake

IEF members have been organising contributions to the Global Ethical Stocktake. All the reports were sent to Brasil Participativo, and are also posted on the IEF website:

The Future We Want: From Bangsar to Belem, a productive dialogue in Malaysia on 21 September, initiated by IEF member Yuet Me Ho, with a comprehensive report on all five questions. 

Aotearoa New Zealand GES Consultation on 21 September, with detailed responses to the five questions including Indigenous perspectives

Environment Forum Dialogues for GES, in Ottawa 27 September and the Americas 28 September.

At the suggestion of IEF, Bahá'í External Affairs in Australia organised a GES East Coast Roundtable on 30 September with 23 participants from various faiths and the Faith Ecology Network. Another roundtable for the West Coast was held on 1 October.

On 23 October, Rhode Island Interfaith Power and Light organised a GES dialogue on the campus of Brown University at the suggestion of an IEF member.

On 29 October, the Bahá'í Academy in Panchgani, India, organised A Collective Reflection On How to Build a Fairer and Safer Future for All. It brought together a number of other schools and universities in India for an online consultation on the GES with 250 participants, and it collected shared contributions via Google. This was initiated by IEF member Lesan Azadi.

The G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20), at the suggestion of IEF members on its Religion and Environment Working Group, used two sessions of the 2025 G20 Interfaith Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, 10-14 August 2025, to consider the Global Ethical Stocktake and respond to two questions. The report is also available as a pdf.

IEF ENDORSEMENTS AND SIGN-ONS

Protecting Our Common Climate System: Earth Governance for a Sustainable Future 
On 18 October 2024, the IEF endorsed the joint Inter-faith and Values Appeal to the 2024 Conference of States Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 29): Protecting Our Common Climate System: Earth Governance for a Sustainable Future

Multifaith Triple Call to Action
On 20 November 2024, the IEF decided and then endorsed the “Multifaith Triple COP Call to Action” addressed to the Conferences of the Parties (COP) of the three Rio conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification: https://iefworld.org/node/1646 

Fairer Financing for the Future
On 31 May 2025, the IEF signed on to the initiative by the Action for Sustainable Development “Fairer Financing for the Future”: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfPO36IBcj8JLxN0rxxVIoDBf0tM4EPUw847b-GdGqrrI3n4g/viewform 

UNOC3 Multifaith Declaration
Following a request from UNEP Faith for Earth, the International Environment signed the Multifaith Declaration drafted for the 3rd UN Ocean Conference in June 2025. It can be seen at https://www.oceans.faith/en/declaration.
The UNOC3 Multi-Faith Declaration is a landmark interfaith commitment to marine conservation and ocean protection.

Joint Appeal for Nuclear Abolition Day
Following an invitation by MEGA, the IEF has endorsed the Joint Appeal for Nuclear Abolition Day on 18 September 2025.

IEF COLLABORATION WITH OTHER ORGANISATIONS

G20 Interfaith Forum
The IEF continues to contribute to the G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20), with Arthur Dahl chairing its Religion and Environment Working Group, and Monica Maghami serving as a member of that group.

Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance
The IEF is a supporting organisation in Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance (MEGA), established by the World Federalist Movement and the Climate Governance Commission (directed by IEF member Maja Groff) to coordinate efforts to improve global environmental governance, where Arthur Dahl serves on the steering committee.

UN Charter Reform Coalition
The IEF joined the UN Charter Reform Coalition as a supporting member. The UN Charter Reform Coalition is a growing global movement to reform and revitalize the United Nations through a general conference as anticipated in Article 109 of the UN Charter.

International Partner Network of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Lifestyles 
The IEF decided to continue its participation as an institutional member of the International Partner Network of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Lifestyles, a network initiated by Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. The objectives of the UNESCO Chair on ESL align with IEF’s initiatives to promote and strengthen education and learning for sustainable development. Link to the website: https://www.inn.no/english/ccl/teaching-materials-and-resources/index.html.

National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO)
IEF co-sponsored an event organized by the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO) that contributed to London Climate Action Week on 25 June with a discussion on Women, Sustainability, and Justice: A Call for Systemic Change. The event consisted of two panel discussions. Panelists included IEF members Nava Khorram Ahmad, Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, Monica Maghami, and Wendi Momen.

IEF ARCHIVES TO AFNAN LIBRARY

The Afnan Library in London, UK, kindly offered the IEF space for its archives. Help is needed for improving the organisation of the archival materials and for transportation.

IEF MEMBER PARTICIPATION IN OTHER EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

The listed activities of IEF members below are by far not comprehensive. They are limited to the information which the IEF secretariat has received.

IPBES Youth Workshop
Cedric Åkermark participated at the IPBES youth workshop in Namibia 6-9 December 2024. 

Activities of Victoria Thoresen
Victoria Thoresen spoke at the national celebration of the Earth Charter on 25 September and at the international Earth Charter conference held in The Hague in July. She was a member of the official Norwegian delegation to the UN General Assembly from Oct. 6-16. Additionally, she has given several interviews which are now on You Tube about Sustainable development and learning.

Oakville Baha’i Firesides
The monthly Oakville Baha’i Firesides always address an environmental topic. At the 6 February 2025 fireside, Christine Muller spoke about The Environmental Crisis: Why it matters and how a spiritual perspective can help.

Bonn Climate Change Conference
Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen gave a research presentation on climate strategies to launch a panel at an official side event on 16 June 2025.

Armando and the Amazing Animal Race
Diana Schaffter wrote an eco-adventure novel, Armando and the Amazing Animal Race, for ages 8 and up. The book achieved International Best Seller Status on Amazon and has won international literary awards in categories including "Environmental," "Cultural Diversity," and "Multi-generational" books. It is available here.

Reimagining our Relationship with the Earth
The Global Citizen featured Arthur Dahl in a podcast Reimagining our relationship with the Earth, The Eco Principle, a podcast by Katoikos.world and FOGGS #32, 17 July 2025 (42 minutes) 

Values-based Transformative Learning
IEF President Arthur Dahl shared IEF’s experience about Values-based Transformative Learning with the No Limits to Hope forum on 22 August 2025.

Humans on Earth, a Musical Contribution to Public Discourse
On 29 October, the University of Rhode Island Symphony Orchestra performed the world premiere of the composition Humans on Earth - A Ballad of our Time by IEF General Secretary Christine Muller.

Baha’i Institute for Higher Education in Iran (BIHE)
There are currently five students enrolled in the environmental science master programme at BIHE. IEF member Dr. Laurent Mesbah is teaching Principles of Environmental Science and IEF member Dr. Nizar Mohamed is teaching Conceptual Framework for Environmental Action, with Dr Arthur Dahl giving the opening lecture.

PUBLICATIONS AND PAPERS BY IEF MEMBERS

Building community resilience against complex risks
Arthur Dahl presented his new paper “Building community resilience against complex risks” at the Justice Conference in the Netherlands on 20 April 2025. (Text here, presentation here)

Accountability in Environmental Governance
On 28 May 2025, the Global Governance Innovation Network at the Stimson Center, Washington, DC, published an important issue brief on Options for Strengthening Accountability Mechanisms in Global Environmental Governance by Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen and Arthur Lyon Dahl. Download pdf

Governing the Planet: Why We Need an Earth System Council Now
In preparation for the climate COP30 in Brazil, and following on from the ICJ advisory opinion on climate responsibility, IEF President Arthur Dahl prepared a blog for the Global Governance Forum on 28 July on Governing the Planet: Why We Need an Earth System Council Now.

Turning Words into Action: Designing Accountability Mechanisms with Impact for Multilateral Environmental Agreements
Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen and Arthur Lyon Dahl published a paper on "Turning Words into Action: Designing Accountability Mechanisms with Impact for Multilateral Environmental Agreements" in the journal Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, 31(3):375-388, 26 August 2025. (pdf file)