Almost one hundred years ago,`Abdu’l-Bahá — one of the central figures of the Bahá’í Faith — wrote that “unity of thought in world undertakings” would signal the gradual emergence of a more just and sustainable world order. A century ago, before the invention of efficient systems of global communication and transportation, this assertion must have been difficult for most people to comprehend.

At the dawn of the 21st century, unity of thought in world undertakings is becoming an increasingly tangible possibility. Consider today’s Blog Action Day ’09, which is a globally coordinated expression of solidarity regarding the need for urgent action on climate change, involving thousands of blogs and millions of readers. Initiatives such as this clearly represent movement toward unity of thought in world undertakings.

It is not yet clear if or when an expanding unity of thought on climate change will be translated into unified and effective action on climate change. What is clear, however, is that coordinated global action is not possible without first achieving a degree of unified thought. Efforts to cultivate unified thought are thus an important prerequisite for effective global action.

As the case of climate change illustrates, it is not easy to achieve coordinated agency and change on a global scale. Obstacles — such as entrenched vested interests that are working to confuse the issues and forestall action — still need to be overcome. But the currents of history are moving us inexorably toward increased consensus on a number of pressing global issues. The instruments for unified thought and action are finally at hand. And clearly the heat is on.