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2,720 words
'Can appealing to the religious sensibility of state leaders aid climate diplomacy?'
“Climate change isn't happening here or there but everywhere all at once”, i (David Wallace-
Wells 2019 The Unhabitable Earth). The clear interest in this topic lies in the idea of global
responsibility that transcends economic, ethnic and historical barriers presents a new obstacle
for state leaders. This particular focus on religion as a tool for climate advocacy is especially
important when analysing trends of global warming. It is said to affect large religious
communities in many low-income countries. This relationship between religious scripture
and what modern environmentalism has become introduces new conversations about, the
effect of religious beliefs on environmentalist thinking; the impact of religious leader's
advocacy, and larger questions about the ‘secular wests’ relationship to the climate
movement. This discussion will centre around appealing to the religiosity of state leaders and
their followers, and whilst the goal is to centre explicitly religious state leaders, in the modern
world where many states have a separation of church and state and clarity on the religious
status of some countries are unfortunately lost. This will therefore be a broader discussion on
countries and their leaders who identify as religious and who regularly promote policies
based on these beliefs. The aim is to test the impact of religious thinking against external
factors and analyse if this is a productive and useful approach to tackle the climate crisis.
Firstly, let's establish if there is even an inherent link between religious thinking and views on
the climate crisis. Lynn White (1967) iiArgues that “religious beliefs inhibit environmental
concern by promoting an anthropocentric worldview". This is when humans are seen as more
valuable than the environment, this belief is evidenced through religious scriptures which
centralise the human experience above all else. Genesis 1:26-27 notably states “Let Us make
man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea...”. iii
The emphasis on humans being created in the image of God, and having souls' moral
conscious, in Judaeo-Christian scriptures specifically support White’s narrative that perhaps
religious reasoning is most useful in appealing to issues concerning civil liberties rather than
those that affect nature alone. Whilst this is a fair argument an important consideration must
be made, on whether it is even possible to separate humans from nature when both must co-
exist for our survival. When looking into indigenous communities in Australia Geoforum
(Bawaka Country et al. (2020) shows how views on nature and human life to be
, interconnected and something that cannot be separated. This may explain larger indigenous
environmental efforts iv. Nevertheless, the climate crisis has already had a detrimental impact
on human life an infamous example being the Dhaka region in Bangladesh which is
experiencing mass flooding. For many people around the world, the climate crisis is a human
rights issue as it is tied to their survival. Is it logical to believe that religious sensibility
wouldn’t consider this fact and is the anthropocentric worldview a privileged and western
idea that unfortunately religious believers in low-income countries cannot afford to relate to?
Anthropocentricism appears in not only religious thinking but also western thinking because
of capitalist ideas that have emerged since the industrial revolution, and the encouragement of
consumerism even at the cost of the environment. v This begs the question of if this burden of
ignorance should also be tied to many secular people who benefit from these modes of
production and who are also susceptible to this thinking process. This idea of human-centric
choices is therefore not unique to religious people and therefore might be a natural obstacle in
introducing and advocating for environmentalism.
Key critics of White’s, (Wilkinson 2010 and Konisky 2018) Contest these arguments by
stating that religion could be used as an important tool to advocate for climate diplomacy. vi
They argue that religious texts like the Bible emphasise the “protection of the environment”,
this view is supported by the large pastoral themes in the Judeo-Christian texts, with nature
usually being a key device in these parables an example being in the Genesis flood narrative
of Noah’s Arkvii. On the topic of religious activism for the climate, Konisky notes a trend
towards “the greening of Christianity”viii, which describes a larger shift in the ’90s towards a
more environmentally conscious belief system within Christian communities. This allows for
larger hope and is only further pushed by key political and religious Catholic figures like
Pope Francis’ in his (Laudato Si 2015), or Encyclical Letter which translates to “On Care for
our Common Home. This is referred to by Konisky as a “watershed moment” with Pope
Francis stating “our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we
receive life and refreshment from her waters.” ix This statement embodied the same ideas
stated in Wilkinson arguments about a clear environmental agenda within religious texts,
blurring the lines of humans and nature but also science and religion. Leading up to the Paris
Climate Accord 2015, Pope Francis’ strong support was praised and encouraged not only
globally but also by secular leader, allowing for the hope that more religious heads of state
would also take the same stand. Ideally, the combination of religious scripture and
religious/political advocates would create the perfect formula for climate diplomacy, not only
2,720 words
'Can appealing to the religious sensibility of state leaders aid climate diplomacy?'
“Climate change isn't happening here or there but everywhere all at once”, i (David Wallace-
Wells 2019 The Unhabitable Earth). The clear interest in this topic lies in the idea of global
responsibility that transcends economic, ethnic and historical barriers presents a new obstacle
for state leaders. This particular focus on religion as a tool for climate advocacy is especially
important when analysing trends of global warming. It is said to affect large religious
communities in many low-income countries. This relationship between religious scripture
and what modern environmentalism has become introduces new conversations about, the
effect of religious beliefs on environmentalist thinking; the impact of religious leader's
advocacy, and larger questions about the ‘secular wests’ relationship to the climate
movement. This discussion will centre around appealing to the religiosity of state leaders and
their followers, and whilst the goal is to centre explicitly religious state leaders, in the modern
world where many states have a separation of church and state and clarity on the religious
status of some countries are unfortunately lost. This will therefore be a broader discussion on
countries and their leaders who identify as religious and who regularly promote policies
based on these beliefs. The aim is to test the impact of religious thinking against external
factors and analyse if this is a productive and useful approach to tackle the climate crisis.
Firstly, let's establish if there is even an inherent link between religious thinking and views on
the climate crisis. Lynn White (1967) iiArgues that “religious beliefs inhibit environmental
concern by promoting an anthropocentric worldview". This is when humans are seen as more
valuable than the environment, this belief is evidenced through religious scriptures which
centralise the human experience above all else. Genesis 1:26-27 notably states “Let Us make
man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea...”. iii
The emphasis on humans being created in the image of God, and having souls' moral
conscious, in Judaeo-Christian scriptures specifically support White’s narrative that perhaps
religious reasoning is most useful in appealing to issues concerning civil liberties rather than
those that affect nature alone. Whilst this is a fair argument an important consideration must
be made, on whether it is even possible to separate humans from nature when both must co-
exist for our survival. When looking into indigenous communities in Australia Geoforum
(Bawaka Country et al. (2020) shows how views on nature and human life to be
, interconnected and something that cannot be separated. This may explain larger indigenous
environmental efforts iv. Nevertheless, the climate crisis has already had a detrimental impact
on human life an infamous example being the Dhaka region in Bangladesh which is
experiencing mass flooding. For many people around the world, the climate crisis is a human
rights issue as it is tied to their survival. Is it logical to believe that religious sensibility
wouldn’t consider this fact and is the anthropocentric worldview a privileged and western
idea that unfortunately religious believers in low-income countries cannot afford to relate to?
Anthropocentricism appears in not only religious thinking but also western thinking because
of capitalist ideas that have emerged since the industrial revolution, and the encouragement of
consumerism even at the cost of the environment. v This begs the question of if this burden of
ignorance should also be tied to many secular people who benefit from these modes of
production and who are also susceptible to this thinking process. This idea of human-centric
choices is therefore not unique to religious people and therefore might be a natural obstacle in
introducing and advocating for environmentalism.
Key critics of White’s, (Wilkinson 2010 and Konisky 2018) Contest these arguments by
stating that religion could be used as an important tool to advocate for climate diplomacy. vi
They argue that religious texts like the Bible emphasise the “protection of the environment”,
this view is supported by the large pastoral themes in the Judeo-Christian texts, with nature
usually being a key device in these parables an example being in the Genesis flood narrative
of Noah’s Arkvii. On the topic of religious activism for the climate, Konisky notes a trend
towards “the greening of Christianity”viii, which describes a larger shift in the ’90s towards a
more environmentally conscious belief system within Christian communities. This allows for
larger hope and is only further pushed by key political and religious Catholic figures like
Pope Francis’ in his (Laudato Si 2015), or Encyclical Letter which translates to “On Care for
our Common Home. This is referred to by Konisky as a “watershed moment” with Pope
Francis stating “our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we
receive life and refreshment from her waters.” ix This statement embodied the same ideas
stated in Wilkinson arguments about a clear environmental agenda within religious texts,
blurring the lines of humans and nature but also science and religion. Leading up to the Paris
Climate Accord 2015, Pope Francis’ strong support was praised and encouraged not only
globally but also by secular leader, allowing for the hope that more religious heads of state
would also take the same stand. Ideally, the combination of religious scripture and
religious/political advocates would create the perfect formula for climate diplomacy, not only
