5 reasons why people of faith are a powerful force in the fight against climate change and environmental crises

By Mehdi Leman

Whether religious or atheist, faith guides many of us. Simply because success is not guaranteed in most struggles. Our energy and motivation sometimes find their source beyond logic and rationality. Here are five reasons why people of faith can be a powerful force for a liveable planet.

1. 85% of the world’s people identify with a religion: a powerful force that can move mountains

Research has shown that over 5.8 billion people on our planet consider themselves to belong to a religious community. That means about 85% of the people on Earth identify with a religion.

Half of all schools and 40% of health facilities in some countries are owned or operated by faith groups, hence the importance of ensuring, as Ummah For Earth and many other groups are doing, that the training of faith leaders incorporates environmental issues and raises awareness of ecology in both theory and practice. 

In addition, faith-related institutions own almost 8% of the total habitable land surface – and constitute the world’s third largest group of financial investors. The issue of finance is key: in the face of deregulated international finance driven by short-term profit, alternative models are gaining strength, like Islamic finance. 

Among these billions of people driven by strong values, many have already committed themselves to fighting the ecological and social crisis in a variety of ways. Many others have not yet taken action, but are sensitive to the arguments highlighting the intersection between their religious values and environmental actionéé. A powerful force and a source of positive environmental impact that should not be overlooked.

2. Activism has always involved and been driven by people of faith

Throughout history, faith communities have played significant roles in advocating for environmental and social justice, often driven by their religious teachings and values. 

The history of the abolitionist movement, the Civil Rights movement in the United States, and the Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa show that faith leaders and people of faith are often key players in bringing about change.

And yes, this also applies to environmental struggles. The Chipko Movement, a grassroots environmental movement led by local women in the 1970s and inspired by Hindu traditions of reverence for nature succeeded in protecting numerous forests and securing community rights over forest resources. In the 1980s, Brazil’s Indigenous communities, including the Kayapo people, resisted the construction of the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River, and successfully halted the dam’s construction for several years by drawing upon their spiritual beliefs and cultural heritage. In 2018, the Munduruku Indigenous People in Brazil fought to protect their territory from a construction project that would flood an area the size of New York City and would directly impact their lives and livelihoods, including spiritual practices. The Munduruku drew a map of their territory outlining sacred places that would be destroyed if the project was approved.

More recently (2016), the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, along with other Indigenous groups and environmental activists, protested against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which threatened their sacred sites and water sources, including the Missouri River. They organised prayer camps and nonviolent demonstrations, drawing support from religious communities across the country.

3. Religious leaders and faith communities are concerned about climate and nature crises

Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si'” released in 2015, and reinforced in 2023 by the encyclical “Laudate Deum”, emphasises the moral imperative for environmental stewardship based on Catholic social teachings. The Islamic Declaration on Climate Change, also issued in 2015 by a diverse group of participants including Islamic scholars, academics, environmentalists, policymakers, and representatives from various Muslim organisations, emphasises the moral responsibility of Muslims to address climate change and its impacts. It is in the same spirit that a group of distinguished Islamic scholars from around the world released the Al-Mizan Covenant for the Earth a few weeks ago at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6).

Commenting on extreme weather events like floods in Turkey and scorching temperatures in Iraq in 2021, the leading Sunni Muslim religious authority, Egypt’s Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb demanded serious action on climate change.

Recent surveys show that majorities in every major religious group believe the truth that climate change is happening. Survey data indicate that the majority of Muslims regard climate change as an important societal challenge.

4. Religious leaders and faith communities are actively involved in protecting the environment and the climate

Faith communities and faith-based initiatives continue to play crucial roles in fighting for the environment today, employing various strategies such as advocacy, education, community organising, and direct action.

Many faith-based organisations and religious institutions (United Church of Christ and the World Council of Churches, for example) have launched divestment campaigns, calling on religious communities to divest from fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy alternatives. 

GreenFaith, an international interfaith environmental organisation, offers training programs, resources, and campaigns to support faith-based environmental initiatives, including divestment from fossil fuels, promoting renewable energy, and advocating for climate justice policies. GreenFaith also organises interfaith environmental events and facilitates dialogue between religious leaders, environmentalists, and policymakers.

Ummah for Earth (U4E), a coalition that includes members such as Islamic Relief and the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES), as well as Greenpeace Middle East North Africa and Greenpeace SouthEast Asia, aims to contribute to the climate movement amongst Muslims worldwide by building on Islamic values to address the vulnerability of Muslims and climate impacts. The project seeks to show how Muslim culture and values are an important guiding light for a more sustainable future while amplifying the voices of Muslim youth in the global conversation around climate.

5. Spiritual and religious values encourage environmental protection and respect towards nature

According to some estimates, our planet is home to more than 4,000 different religions and religious communities. Within this diversity there are a large number of shared values, enabling different faith communities to work together for social and environmental justice. Stewardship. Justice. Solidarity. Compassion. Balance. Peace. These are overarching values that can be identified in many religions.

Millions of people of faith believe that stewardship and upkeep of the Earth is one of the greatest offerings of worship they can give. It is part of how we practise our faith and express gratitude towards our presence on this Earth. 

Different spiritualities have specific words that echo these common values. The concept of Tikkun Olam (which means “repairing the world”) in Judaism, the principle of Ahimsa in Hinduism, Indigenous words about the environment that don’t exist in English, and the concepts structuring Islamic environmentalism that emphasise stewardship of the Earth (Khalifa) and ethical treatment of the environment (Hurma). 

People of faith understand that we all have a responsibility to maintain ecological balance and take wise decisions today to ensure a better future for generations to come. Together, we are a powerful force for a liveable planet.

Mehdi Leman is a Content Editor for Greenpeace International, based in France.

This piece was originally published on Greenpeace on March 17th 2024.

AL-MIZAN: COVENANT FOR THE EARTH

We are pleased to announce the launch of Al-Mizan: Covenant for the Earth which took place yesterday, Tuesday 27th of February, at the Media Center at the UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) compound in Nairobi under the patronage of H. E. Ms. Leila Benali, President of UNEA(United Nations Environmental Assembly) and other dignitaries. The launch was live streamed on this Channel. Al-Mizan can now be downloaded in Arabic and English from the Al-Mizan page and also at https://www.almizan.earth/.

Al-Mizan is the work of a large group of Muslim scholars from across the globe and different Islamic backgrounds led by the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES/EcoIslam) UK, Islamic World Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization (IESCO) Morocco, Uskudar University Turkey, Hamad University and Quranic Botanic Gardens Qatar and Anaq el-Ard Saudi Arabia. The Covenant in addition to being endorsed by the Muslim Council of Elders has been reviewed by more than 300 Islamic scholars and institutions. This endeavour was facilitated by UNEP’s Faith for Earth Coalition.

The Covenant presents an Islamic outlook on the environment in a bid to strengthen local, regional, and international actions to combat the triple planetary crises defined by the United Nations as climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. It is a global endeavour to engage Muslims from all levels of society in the development and adoption of this call.

Environmentalism is deeply embedded in the veins of Islam. It is about personal behaviour and how it manifests itself in our association with others and also about being considerate in our relationship with the natural world and other sentient beings. 

These principles grew out of the foundations established by Prophet Muhammad into a range of rules and institutions that manifested an expression of life that was truly holistic. It was based on the Qur’an and it could be distilled into three categories namely encouraging public good, forbidding wrong action and acting in moderation at all times:

“Let there be a community among you that calls for what is good, urges what is right and forbids what is wrong, they are the ones who have success” (3: 104)

AL-MIZAN (‘Balance’ in English) is based on Surah Ar-Rahman (The Merciful) in which Allah Almighty describes the creation in its perfect balance:

"The Most Merciful,

Taught the Quran

Created Humankind

Taught him Eloquence

The sun and the moon move in precise calculation

and the stars and the trees prostrate

and the heaven He raised and imposed the balance (Mizan)

That you not transgress within the balance (Mizan)

and establish weight in justice and do not make deficient the balance (Mizan)”

(Quran 55:1-9)

Greening religion: New Islamic covenant for the Earth

Following on from the Catholic Church, the global Islamic community is finalising a new Earth charter to encourage Muslims to combat pollution, climate change and other threats to the planet.

Jorge Bergoglio penned a powerful 37 000-word message to humanity a few years ago, pointing at special economic interests, technology and large sections of the media for helping turn the world into “an immense pile of filth”.

God had never granted humans unchecked dominion over nature, declared the world-renowned Argentinian football fan, former bar bouncer, janitor and chemistry technician.

Bergoglio said young people were demanding change but, regrettably, efforts to find lasting solutions to the global environmental crisis had been ineffective. This was largely because of powerful opposition from special interests, but also apathy among those who mistakenly saw themselves as biblically ordained “lords and masters” entitled to plunder the Earth at will.

Bergoglio – better known as Pope Francis, the current head of the Catholic Church – set down these thoughts in his papal encyclical Laudato si’, published on 24 May 2015 for the estimated 1.3 billion baptised Catholics and “every person living on this planet”.

Francis painted a gloomy picture: “It is remarkable how weak international political responses have been. The failure of global summits on the environment make it plain that our politics are subject to technology and finance … economic interests easily end up trumping the common good … any genuine attempt by groups within society to introduce change is viewed as a nuisance … we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the Earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.”

Now, the global Muslim community is drafting its new environmental charter, titled Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth. The draft is scheduled to be completed by late March, with the final version published in October.

Iyad Abumoghli, the Nairobi-based founding director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Faith for Earth project, announced the Al-Mizan endeavour last year.

Undated: Iyad Abumoghli is the Nairobi-based founding director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Faith for Earth project

The Laudato si’ inspired many Christians and people of other religions, said Abumoghli. “Several religious institutions and leaders have issued declarations on climate change or calls for action on biodiversity, rainforests and other environmental challenges. However, these remain expressions of positions and solidarity with nature. What is needed is a concerted effort that charts the way forward and engages followers in meaningful actions by all religions comparable to Laudato si’.

“Muslims form over one-fifth of the world’s population and can offer humanity important Islamic perspectives on how to mitigate the impacts of the unprecedented crises we are living through.” 

Islamic guidelines

The new Islamic charter would help identify what Islam can do to ensure future generations inherit a healthy and sustainable planet.

Islamic scholars and institutions have teamed with Faith for Earth, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Science, Uskudar University in Istanbul, the Qur’anic Botanic Garden and the College of Islamic Studies and Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar to draft the charter, said Abumoghli. There are two teams, one representing these organisations and “a scholars team representing different regions and Islamic sects”. 

Sri Lanka-born, Britain-based Sidi Fazlun Khalid is the chair and co-author of the scholars team. Khalid has been described as “a pioneer in the field of Islamic environmentalism”. He founded the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences and is the author of Signs on the Earth: Islam, Modernity and the Climate Crisis.

15 August 2020: The opening chapters of the Qur’an. (Photograph by Abdullah Faraz/ Unsplash)

Although not involved in drafting the document, Abumoghli said the authors had reached out to the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) in South Africa as well as many other Muslim leaders during the review process.

MJC member and head of the Coowatool Mosque in Loop Street, Cape Town, Moulana Shuaib Appleby welcomed the initiative. His interest in environmental issues has deepened since his appointment to the board of the Southern Africa Faith Communities’ Environmental Institute (SAFCEI), a multi-faith organisation launched in 2005 to support faith leaders and their communities to increase awareness, understanding and action on eco-justice, sustainable living and climate change.

Its members practise a broad spectrum of faiths, from African traditional healers to Bahá’í, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Quaker and a range of Christian denominations.

Appleby said it is essential for religious and faith leaders to work together to raise public awareness about environmental issues within their communities. He said that the SAFCEI has also launched a campaign to install renewable energy such as solar panels and wind turbines in places of worship, but said “more needs to be done to implement campaigns within communities. As much as it is great to share theory and discuss ideas about global environmental issues, I also see the need for more tangible projects for ordinary people on the ground.”

A game changer

Abumoghli noted that the Quran, the practices of Prophet Muhammad and the teachings of Islam all urge humanity to value and protect nature. But many of these environmental lessons remain unknown to Muslims, he said in a recent interview on the UN Environment Programme website, including how they relate to contemporary environmental issues such as climate change, ecosystem destruction and overconsumption.

“Mizan is designed to change that – and encourage Muslims to do all they can to safeguard the planet … In many places, we’re losing our connection to nature. Mizan will help provide a set of authoritative standards for Muslims to follow in their daily lives. We think it could be a game changer.”

At a broader level of the Faith for Earth Initiative, Abumoghli sees opportunities to work with religious institutions, who are often major investors, to green their assets and reduce their environmental footprints.

In Laudato si’, Pope Francis lamented the decline in the quality of human life, especially among the urban impoverished. He posited that environmental degradation could not be resolved unless society attended to the causes of social degradation for billions of impoverished people, evidenced by social breakdown, increased violence, growing drug use by young people and a loss of identity. 

“They frequently remain at the bottom of the pile. This is due partly to the fact that many professionals, opinion makers, communications media and centres of power, being located in affluent urban areas, are far removed from the poor, with little direct contact with their problems … We have to realise that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor,” he said.

All the same, Francis’ encyclical ends on a positive note, where he speaks about the “duty to care for creation through little daily actions” such as avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings and using public transport.

“We must not think that these efforts are not going to change the world. They benefit society, often unbeknown to us, for they call forth a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread.”

Bending the Curve. (Image supplied by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis)

Hope versus action 

But there is a big difference between hope, on one hand, and action on the other, said United States theologian and energy ethics scholar Erin Lothes Biviano.

Writing in the Journal of Moral Theology about the American Catholic Church and the Laudato si’ initiative, Biviano touched on the abiding conservative-liberal divide among US Catholics.

“Despite the wealth of magisterial teaching and theological writing on religion and ecology, we find that far less is being done than we would like … Why is that? 

“I do not believe we should threaten people with doom – it does not work. This is not to say that we should downplay the gravity of climate change or avoid the sobering facts,” she suggested. Rather, those who seek to connect with more conservative Catholics on the issue of climate change should pay more attention to their “rhetorical tone”.

“Leadership is critical – believers must hear ecological reflections from the pulpit and read them in diocesan and parish publications to counter assumptions that environmentalism is superfluous, if not irrelevant to, faith … We also need to talk about morality without moralising – the ‘green zealot’ will simply turn people off. We must recognise that people do things differently; they have different personalities, different economic philosophies, different levels of scientific literacy,” she wrote.

This piece was originally published on New Frame on March 25 2021.