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Environmental Awareness Growing in Conservative
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Religious Groups Becoming a Factor in Climate Policy DebateCommentary by Melissa Stults At the recent international climate change conference (UNFCCC COP11/MOP1) in Montreal, hundreds of members of the faith community participated in climate negotiations. Indeed, the faith community’s presence was so evident that they were granted the opportunity to deliver a statement during the High-Level Segment of the conference. While this was significant, the religious community’s involvement in the climate change debate goes much deeper than a formal presentation at a single conference. For years there has been growing concern within the religious community about the spiritual and ethical dimensions of climate change. The number of movements and churches /synagogues /mosques etc. making statements or committing to action on climate change is vast. The significance of the religious community’s movement on climate change does not lie in the number of individuals involved, which is extensive, but in the fact that all across the religious spectrum, theologically liberal to conservative groups have agreed on the seriousness of the climate change problem. One of the major ways the religious community has affected the climate change policy debate is through lobbying at the local, state, national and international arena. From being physically present at negotiations to releasing statements that have the endorsement of the specific organizations’ members, the political impact of the religious community has been significant. Most recently, a statement was released by 86 Evangelical leaders as a part of the new Evangelical Climate Initiative, which calls for federal legislation in the United States to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In the United Kingdom, a similar church-based climate change campaign by the name of Operation Noah has utilized a ‘Climate Covenant’ to put pressure on Prime Minister Tony Blair to ensure that the UK leads international climate negotiations. Besides motivating the UK to the lead in international action to protect the climate, Operation Noah seeks to encourage churchgoers to reduce their energy use and offset their personal greenhouse emissions by buying carbon offsets. In general, most of these statements do not call for specific action but strive to put to rest the idea that the representative organization has any doubt regarding the science of climate change. Instead, these documents tend to argue that enough evidence exists to take serious action to avoid further anthropogenic interference with the climate system. In 2001, just such a statement was released by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Catholic Bishops’ statement draws heavily on the social justice tradition in Catholic thought, noting that many of the greatest victims of climate change are likely to be the poor. A statement by H.H. Ecumenical Patriarch Batholomew, a recent statement by David Hallman of the World Council of Churches, a 2001 statement by the Church of the Brethren and a statement by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life to the National Interfaith Training on Global Warming; are all powerful representations of the momentum to take serious action regarding climate change that is sweeping the religious community. Another way religious organizations are influencing the shaping of climate change policy is through the organization of educational and outreach campaigns. The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life has aided in the organization of the Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign, an organization that not only strives to educate individuals but also provides a way for persons of faith to have their voices heard among elected officials and other decision-makers. The Eco-Justice Program of the National Council of Churches, The National Religious Partnership for the Environment, and the Evangelical Climate Initiative are other examples of how the religious community is educating the public about climate change. More recently, religious organizations have begun to organize conferences to look at climate change and general stewardship issues. In 2005, the organization Catholic Earthcare Australia organized a conference entitled 'Climate Change-Our Responsibility to sustain God's Earth' and the National Council of Churches held their own 'Tending the Garden, Cultivating the Commons’ conference. Many of these organizations hold annual or biennial meetings to address such stewardship issues. Many churches are also making the environment a top priority at home. Interfaith, originally Episcopal Power and Light, encourages the building of green churches, synagogues and other places of worship. The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism has a similar initiative entitled Green Sanctuaries that notes that building green is not only good for the environment, but is also cost effective. Others are taking these initiatives a step further by encouraging their members to undertake more sustainable life choices such as utilizing energy from green sources. One of the most recognizable of these movements was sponsored by the Evangelical Environmental Network and Creation Care Magazine entitled ‘What Would Jesus Drive?’. This movement seeks to question the movement of consumers to purchase SUVs verse more efficient and affordable means of transportation. Ferment is now underway within individual US churches and some denominations to encourage members to manifest their own faith commitment by becoming “climate neutral,” reducing their energy use, and buying offsets for their remaining greenhouse emissions. Many of the organizations /denominations /churches /synagogues /mosques involved in climate protection actions are also participants in large membership organizations that lobby or rally on their behalf. For example, the World Council of Churches, National Religious Partnership for the Environment, the National Council of Churches, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Evangelical Environmental Network, are large membership organizations that are known for their influence within the faith community and within national and international policy circles. In the United States the anti-slavery movement and the civil rights movement were both driven in great measure by a morally aroused religious community. If similar fervor builds about the moral importance of averting catastrophic climate change and the threats it poses to vulnerable humans and countless species, US political leaders may soon be vying to show that the world’s leading generator of greenhouse emissions will also be the leader in promoting solutions. LinksWashington Post on Evangelicals Stephen Gardiner on Ethics and Climate Change National Catholic Rural Life Conference Scientists and Evangelicals Unite on Climate Protection
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