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  • Engaged Organizations: National Council of Catholic Women

    National Council of Catholic Women discuss their work with Catholic Relief Services with regard to their focus on water projects in developing countries, as indicated on their website and in the video below:

    "The Water for Life video illustrates the work of Catholic Relief Services in partnership with the National Council of Catholic Women (www.nccw.org) in responding to the critical need for water projects in developing countries. The greatest humanitarian crisis in the world today is food and water scarcity issues that threaten the peace and security of most developing nations."

  • Hindu Ecology

    Among other philosophical beliefs of Hinduism, adherents advocate for the sacredness of all life forms, simple living, and inner peace. This Hindu statement on ecology, compiled and edited by Ranchor Prime and published by the World Bank in 2003, is posted on the website for Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development:

  • Global Climate Change A Plea for Dialogue Prudence and the Common Good

    A Statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was issued on June 15, 2001. This document covers a multitude of current environmental problems and the resulting negative impact on populations around the world - especially with regard to indigent populations. It stressed the connectivity of human behavior and it's impact on the planet.

  • Keynote Address by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Arctic Circle Assembly

    Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople addressed the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, October 13, 2017. Below is a section of the keynote address, focusing on the impact of climate change with regard to the Arctic Circle:

    "Scientists tell us that the Arctic is a vibrant image and vivid mirror of the state of our planet as a whole. For scientists, the Arctic is the barometer of the globe's environmental health. The ecological misdeeds committed in other regions – including chemical contamination and nuclear radiation – are clearly evident in the Arctic environment. Above all, the dramatic rise in global temperatures is having a palpable effect on the Arctic landscape. Nevertheless, so many industrial societies and activities that cause climate change are often blind to the consequences of their behavior. But here, in the Arctic Circle, it is possible to see all manner of things so much more clearly. When we visit this pristine part of the planet, we cannot hide our eyes, either from the beauty of God’s creation or from the changes which human folly has generated. Nor can we avoid pondering the terrible consequences for the remainder – and the future – of the world, if glaciers continue to melt and sea-levels continue to rise."

  • A Bishops’ Letter about the Climate

    Below is a section of the introduction from A Bishops’ Letter about the Climate, which covers a multitude of critical environmental issues, from the 2014 Bishops' conference:

    "We have lived with reports and forecasts of climate change since the 1980s. Our climate is the result of the interaction of complex systems and there is often a great distance between cause and effect in terms of both space and time. There are uncertainties and a lack of clarity. However, the knowledge we possess today does not allow us to postpone until tomorrow
    what needs to be done now. Our human climate impact must decrease for the sake of the earth, for the sake of the world that God so loves that God gave us Jesus Christ."

  • Our Moral Opportunity on Climate Change

    On November 3, 2017, the New York Times posted an article by Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury and primate of the Church of England, discussing some of the devastating weather-related disasters that had occurred at that time and how climate change factored into the tragedies. Below is one section of the article, discussing responses of various faith groups with regard to these events:

    "Indeed, even amid the hurricane-caused devastation and despair of recent weeks, I have seen seeds of hope. Different expressions of the Christian faith are freshly united around the need to care for our common home. The Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox Churches just came together with the World Council of Churches to celebrate a month long Season of Creation. During this season, people all around the globe prayed and acted to address climate change and to protect the earth."

  • The Hope We Share: A Vision For Copenhagen

    The Anglican Communion Environmental Network addressed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
    Conference Of Parties (COP) Meetings, the Fifteenth Session, held in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009. They lament the consequences of environmental human footprints, some of which include the lack of drinkable water in various parts of the world, the increased difficulty to grow crops due to the water shortages, rampant consumerism, and subsidies for fossil fuels.

  • Lutherans Reflect on Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

    This article discusses some of the sentiments regarding proceedings from the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. While some attendees expressed disappointment in the outcome, others were more optimistic about steps which may lead to more effective action for climate change in the future. The following excerpt provides a brief description of the event:

    "More than 3,000 ELCA members, along with a coalition of U.S. faith leaders, sent some 20,000 postcards to President Barack Obama, urging him to be at the meeting, she said. Obama attended the conference and urged leaders of Brazil, China, India and South Africa to join the United States 'to fund developing nations' projects to deal with droughts,
    floods and other impacts of climate change, and to develop clean energy,' among other agreements, according to a U.N. news release."

  • Environmental Stewardship

    This book goes into detail about how the Christian religion goes about environmental stewardship. They look at how bible passages talk about preserving the Earth and the morals we should have surrounding it. It dives deep into how science interacts with human interaction with the Earth and the damage that we have done to Earth, as well as what we should do to correct ourselves.

  • How Buddhist monks in Ladakh are fighting climate change

    Buddhists Monks in the Himalayas are taking a stand to climate change. On Earth Day 2018, thousands of people came together in the village of Yerat to plant trees. The region is rapidly losing glaciers, causing a shortage in water supply to the villages in the area who rely on snowmelt for water. The volunteers were inspired to participate due to their devotion to His Holiness Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoche and his vision for "a more verdant and organic Ladakh."

  • GOP Rep. Mike Simpson: "It’s my party, and I’ll fight climate change if I want to"

    An article published on Grist.org that covers Congressman Mike Simpson's views on salmon conservation. Simpson's statements are noteworthy for sustainability and religion as he is going against Republican party views by acknowledging an issue with climate change and the environment with his religious views. It is reported that his speech was obviously fueled by a spiritual obligation to preserve salmon as he describes salmon as incredible God created creatures and that their cycle of life should not be messed with. It is also important to note he was already elected for his 11th term in the house, so it is less likely that his more left leaning statements come from a desire to secure votes.

  • Nature-Based Solutions Database

    As a part of the Equator Initiative and the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), the Nature-Based Solutions Database connects communities through sharing thousands of viable eco-solutions from 500+ communities across five continents.
    Explore the Solutions Database to learn how outstanding local communities and indigenous peoples around the world are making possible the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals through nature-based actions.

  • Conference of the Parties (COP)

    The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements.

  • Green Umbrella Impact Team: Faith Communities Go Green

    MISSION: Partnering with religious communities to create a more sustainable and equitable future for all by mobilizing their moral voice to reduce the risk of catastrophic climate change.
    VISION: Religious communities collaborating to integrate care for creation in their lives and society.

  • Ecological Consciousness in Jainism: Exploring Realities, Constraints, and Traditions

    This paper explores the traditions and philosophies of Jainism and how that influences its connection to the environment. The author explains the Jainism cosmology and the distinction between different senses as they apply to animate and inanimate beings. Jain literature understands human connections to the world with an emphasis on the interconnectedness of life forms. To Jains, environmental concerns cannot be separated from socio-economic concerns.

  • Indigenous environmental justice and sustainability

    Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
    Volume 43, April 2020, Pages 35-40

  • Sacred Watersheds and the Fate of the Village Body Politic in Tibetan and Han Communities Under China’s Ecological Civilization

    Coggins studies the spiritual ecologies of Tibetan and Han communities in the People's Republic of China. The Tibetan animism focuses on the protection of landscapes because of their relation to various deities and spirits. Han communities worked on creating fengshui forests to find balance a balance of qi in all things.

  • Interfaith Rainforest Initiative (IRI) Campaign Videos

    The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative (IRI) creates artistic and well-produced videos that accompany their programs on climate change education and awareness-raising in branch offices around the world.

    These videos are great resources for those looking for multimedia inspirations that amplify sustainability communications efforts.

  • Should Rivers Have Right? A Growing Movement Says It’s About Time

    “Should Rivers Have Rights?," published through the Yale School of Environment, addresses not only the growing impact of river degradation but also the spiritual connection that indigenous cultures have with river systems around the world. Attributing legal rights to rivers and other bodies of water will contribute to their protection from further human pollution as well as restoration of these natural areas. Through legal policy, rivers can be brought back to a safe state of equilibrium while also being preserved for indigenous groups.

  • American Jewish World Service- Land, Water, and Climate Justice: Story Collection

    The American Jewish World Service compiled a website of their outreach stories from the US, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Reflections from work with Indigenous communities are included as well. The environmental activism showcased on their website also defend women and their crucial involvement with agriculture and the environment. From the website;

    "We aid communities and movements organizing to protect the land, water and natural resources that people depend on for their survival".

    More information on how to get involved is listed on their website.

  • Quench Their Thirst

    "Welcome to the Quench Their Thirst Fundraising Project!

    Water is a basic necessity of life, yet millions of people around the world lack access to this essential resource. By setting up a fundraising page, you can make a difference and help quench the thirst of those who need it most.

    The money you raise will build water wells, boreholes and water filtration plants in rural communities in Africa and Asia, where people currently have no choice but to walk for miles to collect dirty, contaminated water. This not only puts their health at risk, but also takes up valuable time that could be spent on education, work, or caring for family members."

  • Saving India’s Rivers: Ecology, Civil Society, Religion, and Legal Personhood

    "Abstract: In recent decades, India’s environment has been severely compromised by riverine pollution combined with large-scale dams and exacerbated by diversion for irrigation. Most prominent among the rivers so affected has been the Ganges and its tributaries in northern India, which for Hindus include the country’s most sacred bodies of water. This paper examines three campaigns opposing dam construction, arguably the most widely publicized and analyzed efforts of this kind since independence in 1947. One campaign was essentially secular with virtually no religious component, the second mostly secular with some religious support, and the third almost totally a religious initiative. In the end, only the third attained any real success, and that rested on circumstances unlikely to be replicated. The possibility that future campaigns of this scale can be taken up again appears remote. Meanwhile, riverine pollution has continued to increase everywhere despite massive governmental programs to reduce it. Theoretically, it would seem that environmentalists and Hindu devotees with their veneration of nature should be able to work in common cause to reduce pollution, but any large-scale cooperation seems unlikely between these two disparate realms. More recently an effort to protect rivers by endowing them with legal personhood enjoyed an initial success, holding the promise that lawsuits could be brought on behalf of a river against those polluting it. The paper concludes that while the legal personhood strategy is currently stalled, it offers the best chance for eventual success in attenuating riverine pollution. In the course of the paper, a comparative theoretical framework for assessing anti-dam protests will be tested."

  • Its promised land drying, Mormon Church works to save the Great Salt Lake

    Due to overuse and climate change, the Great Salt Lake is drying and is estimated to disappear in about five years. In response to this, the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has started public conservation and water-saving efforts. This article describes these efforts and the role of the Great Salt Lake in the local environment and culture.

  • The Intellectual Martian Society of “Stranger in a Strange Land” by Robert Heinlein

    This chapter from the student-written book “Emerging Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Values in America” explores the environmental ethics and spirituality of the book Stranger in a Strange Land. Specifically, the author discusses the importance of water and the environmental impact of the book. Below is the first paragraph of the chapter to introduce the discussion.

    "In 1961, the accomplished science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein shared his latest work with the world. In the fashion of a fairytale, Stranger in a Strange Land begins 'Once upon a time,' and goes on to describe the fantastic culture of Mars and its impact on human society. The timing of its publication in the early 1960s allowed for a short digestion period, so that it was ripe in the mind of the counterculture in the latter half of the decade. Themes of religious reform, free love, and a oneness with the cosmos permeate the book, and coincidentally rose to popularity during this time. The alignment of the novel with the counterculture cannot be understated: in 1967, the Freak Scene recorded a song entitled 'Grok!,' an homage to the word coined by Heinlein in Stranger in a Strange Land, and a year later the Byrds referenced water brotherhood in their song 'Triad.' The verb 'grok' even found its way into the vernacular of the counterculture (Blackmore, 1995). Messages about the sanctity of clean water and the positive potential of religion reached tens of millions, securing the legacy of Stranger in a Strange Land as one of the books which shaped religious and environmental values in the United States (Library of Congress, 2012)."

  • The Spirit of the Rillito

    This article explores the ideas of animism and new animism. Animism is the belief that all things, living and non-living, have a spiritual essence. The author connects this system of beliefs to their local river, the Rillito.