For most people on our planet, spiritual values are vital in driving communitarian behaviour. It is becoming increasingly clear that a lasting and effective social commitment must consider cultural, sociological and religious dimensions. In particular, the current environmental crisis has demonstrated how effectively religious communities have mobilised to respond to climate change. With their emphasis on wisdom, social cohesion and interrelationships, religions can be a strategic player in ensuring effective integral human development. The ecological crisis is not just an ethical dilemma but an ontological and theological matter that demands both a new way of thinking and a new way of being. Think differently and act differently! The United Nations (UN) and many governments are increasingly recognising the vital contribution of religious leaders and organisations in political processes, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, hypostasised in the Faith Plans for People and Planet programme, representing the most prominent and boldest environmental initiative to date by the global faith community.
Today we realise that a combination of science and spirituality can engage and empower an array of stakeholders from different cultural and religious backgrounds. This article addresses the question of an integrated ecology by selecting appropriate and recent literature from mainstream religions and the subsequent interpretation and application.
In 2015, some world environmentalists came together around an ambitious plan of action for people, the planet and prosperity called
The more recent and unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and the current environmental crisis, especially global climate fluxes, have again emphasised the need to work towards a more sustainable future across national borders, diverse cultural backgrounds and even generations.
To this end, a reflection on the future of people and the planet needs to identify and involve all actors alongside international institutions to fully deploy the power of science in addressing significant global challenges. However, different religious beliefs and values could also play a significant role in tackling global challenges, particularly the environment. Science needs religion to deal with environmental challenges in an integrated way, and a ‘Platinum Society’
If religion and science could be united on the common ground of biological conservation, the problem would soon be solved. If there is any moral precept shared by people of all beliefs, it is that we owe ourselves and future generations a beautiful, rich, and healthful environment. (p. 5)
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, on 12 May 2020, UN Secretary-General António Guterres specifically addressed the world’s religious leaders on the role of faith communities in the pandemic: ‘we are all vulnerable, and that shared vulnerability reveals our common humanity’ (Guterres
The UN has long recognised the importance of significant religions in shaping the international community’s future concerning the environment and other global challenges. Amongst others, the following appropriate initiatives have developed from this (descriptions cited from their respective statutes as indicated in the relevant footnotes):
In 2010 the UN created the Interagency Task Force on Religion and Sustainable Development (UN-IATF),
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the UN, the Multi-faith Advisory Council (MFAC)
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Faith for Earth Initiative (FEI)
A MFAC
These initiatives aim to strengthen a global strategy to mobilise the various religions towards coherently implementing the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda.
The question, however, is not just whether but to what extent are specific
However, this article has neither a comparative nor a phenomenological objective regarding religion(s).
Long before environmental protection became a priority for the international community, people worldwide had been taking care of their environment as an expression of their spiritual and cultural beliefs and values. For instance, this has remained embedded in the lives and practices of indigenous people, who, although they constitute only around 5% of the world population, play a vital role in nature conservation. Traditional indigenous territories are estimated to cover up to 22% of the world’s land surface and host 80% of the planet’s biodiversity (FAO
Nowadays, it is estimated that more than 80% of the world’s population is somehow religiously affiliated (Hackett et al.
Within religious ecologies, people can orientate and ground their relationships locally and globally. Moreover, a recent report by the
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Prominent religions have been tremendous powerhouses of ancient spiritual wisdom for millennia, guiding humanity through profound crises. Today, they remain amongst the most significant stakeholders for the planet, often securing educational, medical, welfare and compassion work in the most challenging environments.
We have seen several official statements and declarations from all the major faiths in the last few decades emphasising their commitments to a sustainable future. Such declarations show great respect for science teaching whilst appealing to sacred texts and spiritual practices to motivate ecological action. After an assessment of the different Christian confessions on the environment (e.g.
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The challenge is to develop viable solutions of a ‘common public attitude about nature, which goes beyond confessional theologies and secular philosophies, [that] needs to be pursued globally in an ecodomic (constructive and edifying) manner’ (Simut 2020:1). As Bauman, Bohannan and O’Brien (eds.
However, when one looks closely at any religious tradition, one finds considerations of and connections to the natural world. The Buddha’s enlightenment took place outdoors, under a bodhi tree; the Muslim Qur’an and the Hebrew Bible both repeatedly stress the importance of land in shaping and defining a community; the most sacred site on earth for many Hindus is the river Ganges, and many indigenous religious traditions are similarly centered on particular features of their local ecosystems; the parables of Jesus in the Christian scriptures frequently draw on images from the natural world, with mustard seeds, trees, seas, and wildlife featuring prominently. (Loc. 611)
In the Muslim world, the first official Islamic Declaration on Nature (Omar Naseef
Indonesia, the largest Muslim country worldwide, has been at the forefront of environmental protection. In 2014, the Indonesian Council of Ulama, the most influential Muslim organisation in the country, took the unprecedented step of issuing an Islamic
Hinduism offers its wisdom on the stewardship of nature through two Hindu Declarations on Climate Change presented in 2009 and 2015 (Hindu
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However:
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These Declarations call upon Hindus to:
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It invokes (predictably, we might say) the cherished Hindu notion of
Cambodia has one of the highest rates of forest loss in the world. However, the Buddhist monks there have proved themselves powerful forces for conservation, acquiring legal protection of a 20 000-hectare forest, leading community patrol teams, raising environmental awareness and significantly reducing forest crime. Wrapping their saffron robes around tree trunks, the monks bless the trees and even ordain them as monks (Rick
In 2009, over 20 Buddhist teachers of all traditions presented the document
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Buddhist teachings emphasise that the overall health of the individual and society are intertwined with inner well-being and not just upon economic indicators, indicating the personal and social changes we must make. As the Vietnamese Thiền (i.e. Zen) Buddhist monk and activist Thich Nhat Hanh has said, ‘we are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness’ (Stanley et al.
We need to wake up and realise that the Earth is our mother as well as our home – and in this case the umbilical cord binding us to her cannot be severed. When the Earth becomes sick, we become sick, because we are part of her. (p. 10)
Exploiting the environment is harming us too. In 2012, Jewish organisational leaders signed a declaration setting a community-wide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 14% by 2014. The
In the spirit of
In recent years, many religious leaders have called on their communities to care for our planet and its people. Amongst the first public contributions in environmental protection from a faith leader of particular significance has been that of His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. He has tirelessly promoted conservation care for over three decades, drawing from the Byzantine Church’s rich spiritual and theological legacy. On the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 01 September 2020, the ‘Green’ Patriarch clearly states how his effort is deeply rooted in the life of the Orthodox Church:
We repeat that the environmental activities of the Ecumenical Patriarchate are an extension of its ecclesiological self-consciousness and do not comprise a simple circumstantial reaction to a new phenomenon. The very life of the Church is an applied ecology. (Bartholomew
The establishment of the Halki Ecological Institute is another innovative project of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, involving six representatives of the six countries bordering the Black Sea (cf. Chryssavgis
In the 80s, as the international president of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the late Duke of Edinburgh, HRH Prince Philip, first envisaged ‘a new and powerful alliance between the secular conservation organisations and faith groups’. In 1986, for the WWF 25th anniversary, he convened in Assisi leaders of Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity together with significant secular conservation and environmental groups to celebrate the respect for nature all the faiths have in common, the first-ever such meeting and a historic event (Suro
The success of this event led to the creation of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC)
In 2015, ahead of the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, Pope Francis published the encyclical letter
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Inspired by the encyclical letter, the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) was born in 2015, subsequently renamed the Laudato Si’ Movement (LSM) in the Summer of 2021. The movement:
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In 2019, FaithInvest
In the recent COP26 UN climate summit, Pope Francis and other religious leaders, including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, issued a pre-COP26 appeal on climate change and made a public commitment to creating plans for the environment.
The pledge and the joined commitment to the environment were formalised on October 04, 2021, with the launch of the Faith Plans for People and Planet programme,
For most people on our planet, spiritual values are vital in driving communitarian behaviour. With their emphasis on wisdom, social cohesion and interrelationships, religions can be a strategic player in ensuring effective integral human development. It is becoming increasingly clear that a lasting and effective social commitment must increasingly consider cultural, sociological and religious dimensions (McDonagh et al.
Religions remind us that in a world charged with notions of divinity, putting metaphysics aside in favour of trying to develop an ethic for the environment is impossible. All religions have some ‘Golden Rule’ – that you should do unto others as you would have them to do unto you, says Tanhum Yoreh, in an interview conducted by Jankovic (
There are multiple ways to reach a sustainable life for ourselves and the planet. And if some of these paths are within religion, then they need to be clear, well-articulated and accessible to the people who are going to gravitate towards them. (p. 556)
In the past, protected management and governance have been based on scientific research. Today we realise that a combination of science and spirituality can engage and empower an array of stakeholders from different cultural and religious backgrounds.
The extent of the relevancy of a faith-based approach in a comprehensive engagement with environmental issues is demonstrated in the work of the University of Zurich Centre for Sustainable Finance & Private Wealth (CSP
The Preamble of the Earth Charter (ECI
The four pillars of the Earth Charter.
An inclusivist theology of religion(s) departs from theological exclusivism in its willingness to afford revelatory value to other religious traditions and, together with the natural sciences, engages in the enterprise to mitigate environmental degradation and strive towards a sustainable life for the whole of the creation. Fundamental integral ecology leads people to more just and sustainable lives. Faith-based enterprises are very much aware of this responsibility today. The UN and many governments are increasingly recognising the vital contributions of faith leaders and organisations in societal engagement, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, hypostasised in the Faith Plans for People and Planet programme, representing the most prominent and boldest environmental initiative to date by the global faith community.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
A.P. drafted a text after gathering relevant material and J.B. conceptualised and rewrote an argumentative text based on new sources with coherent conclusions.
This article followed all ethical standards of research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.
‘The vision in the twenty-first century must be one of a high-quality society. To be precise, it must be a society where people can maintain quantitative affluence, enhance it if necessary and enjoy a better-quality life and living situation. Or in other words, a society where they can enjoy a better quality of life (QOL). Let’s define such a society as a platinum society.… The image of a global community that we should aim for is one in which everyone, and not just those in developed countries on this Earth, is living in a platinum society. As declared in the SDGs, we should “leave no one behind”’ (Komiyama
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The guest-editor of this subsection of the HTS, ‘Theology and Nature’, used this same example in his introductory article to the collection (Buitendag
We should not underestimate the contribution of the Club of Rome and their acknowledgement of the role of faith in their 2050 vision (cf. Buitendag