Founding of the Global Forum
The Global Forum has been one of the world’s most influential gatherings concerned with the natural environment. Its full name is “Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival”. It was founded by the Temple of Understanding (TOU) in 1985 with the intention to bring religious and government leaders together to discuss world problems.
The Secretary of the Global Forum, Akio Matsumura, formerly of the United Nations, drew on decades of his own experiences and the help of other organizers such as Dean Morton to gather an unprecedented group of religious and political leaders to the Global Forum’s first congress, held at Oxford, UK, April 11, 1988.
The First Global Forum Oxford, April 11-15, 1988
The Global Forum at Oxford in spring of 1988 gathered over two hundred people, including the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, and Carl Sagan. From the discussions in Oxford emerged the focus on the environment which became the chief theme of the Global Forum. It was decided to include more scientists, scholars, and press in the next meeting, in order to raise world consciousness about the global environmental crisis.
The Second Global Forum Moscow, January 15-19, 1990
With its focus expanded, the Second Global Forum in Moscow in January 1990 grew to over 800 participants, including Grand Mufti of Syria Sheikh Kuftaro, Kyotaro Deguchi from Oomoto, Dr. Ekmellidin Ihsanoglu, Director of the Islamic Research Center in Istanbul, Dean Morton, Russian Academician Velikhov, scientist Carl Sagan, writer Fritzof Capra, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Secretary General of the United Nations, and many others.
The excitement at the Forum was intensified by the fact that the old Soviet Union was in its last months of existence, and Mikhail Gorbachev was in the midst of making the historic reforms which would transform the world. At the conclusion of the Forum, participants were invited inside the Kremlin for a speech and personal appearance by Gorbachev.
The Third Global Forum Kyoto, April 17-23, 1993
The Global Forum met for the third time in 1993 in Kyoto. In addition to the presence of established world religions, the Kyoto Forum emphasized indigenous religions because of their traditional love of nature. Oomoto invited a number of the indigenous leaders to visit Kameoka, and collaborated with the Shinto Shrine of Iwashimizu Hachimangu in a joint worship service.
The Forum concluded with the founding of a new world environmental organization, the Green Cross. In a move which nobody could have predicted at the Kremlin in 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev was appointed the Green Cross’s first director.
