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  Faith and Business Leaders can Unite to Address the Climate Crisis

  This blog talks about the commonality of effects that both big industrial businesses and religious groups can have on the environment. While the business side can focus more on the financial side of climate change, the religious groups can advocate for environmental change, and they both have big potential to influence how people can view the environment. Shilpita Mathews, the writer of the blog, is an environmental economist that focuses of climate adaption but is also apart of a Christian charity that talks about climate change. She believes that this can be an opportunity to build connections with the two groups and find a solution for this major problem.
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  Religion and social values for sustainability

  "Discourse on social values as they relate to environmental and sustainability issues has almost exclusively been conducted in a secular intellectual context. However, with a renewed emphasis on culture as defining and shaping links between people and nature, there has been an increasing level of scholarly attention to the role of religion and spirituality in defining and understanding social values. In this article we explore the intersection of religion and social values for sustainability. First, we consider this nexus as it has been explored in existing scholarship. We acknowledge a body of research that has suggested that many religions are broadly associated with self-transcendent values. However, the degree to which they are translated into pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour varies according to context. Second, we argue that while there is much potential support for human values for sustainability within religious traditions, it is essential that religion is seen as a complex, multi-scalar and multi-dimensional institutional phenomena. Consequently, analysis of the relationship between religion and social values must account for the context of narratives, histories and practices. Third, using this lens, we show how religious perspectives can contribute to operationalising theories of systemic change for sustainability. Finally, we outline key principles for further sustainability research seeking to advance knowledge on the relationship between religion and social values."
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  Water Conservation, Recycling Among Church’s Sustainability Endeavors

  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has various initiatives in place to become better stewards of the environment. Some of these initiatives include reducing water consumption, recycling, implementing solar panel use, and reducing emissions at their various church facilities. They are also committed to Great Salt Lake conservation efforts.
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  10 things you can do to reduce climate change

  "Changes in normal levels of heat, cold, rain, and wind are known as climate change. Using fossil fuels such as crude oil, natural gas, or coal affects our climate. That’s because burning these fuels disturbs the balance of greenhouse gases in our earth’s atmosphere. Follow one or more of the tips in the article to reduce climate change."
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  This minister turned urban farmer is reconnecting the city's South Side with agriculture

  Minister Aaron K. Hopkins developed the organization South Side Family Farms with the goal of uniting his community on the South Side of Columbus, Ohio through sustainable agriculture. His dedication to teaching people about how to sustain themselves combined with his faith has allowed Minister Hopkins to make an incredible impact on his community.
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  The Wisdom of Birch, Oak, and Yew

  This book explores the relationships that people can develop with trees, especially birch, oak, and yew from a Neo-Druid perspective. It invites readers to change their perspective by taking on the point of view of a tree in order to consider their own lives. Billington emphasizes the importance of what we can learn from trees and our role as a part of nature.
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  Between Go and Green: How Evangelicals Are Cultivating a Middle Ground on Climate Change

  This book takes a look at climate change and how environmentalists have tried to get government support, as well as how faith-based communities try to fill in the gap and take action themselves. Specifically, this book focuses on how Evangelicalism can affect the environmentalist's and government officials' agendas.
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  Lawns Into Meadows: Growing Regenerative Landscape

  This book is about how to transform your lawn to a meadow. It explains how to creat a meadow with the yard you currently have. Owen tells stories of his own experiences with meadows and shares these anecdotes as lessons for a newcomer. “If more of us go ahead and plant meadows, they’ll have a much easier time finding their way back.” (Page 5)
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  How Religion Influences Our Relationship with the Environment

  This article focuses on how religion affects behavior associated with the environment. The authors compare the actions of nations who are more religious versus those who aren't, and how those actions differ. They conducted a study that compares the two, and goes into detail of how many resources are used when living in one of these countries.
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  Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) - Sustainable Investments Report

  This report details how the UUA is addressing climate change through their investments following their 2014 Business Resolution on Fossil Fuel divestment, targeted at the UU Common Endowment Fund (UUCEF). It provides general information about climate change via information on global and US emissions as well as the IPCC’s warnings. It provides an overview of their portfolio, a portfolio analysis, and their progress towards divesting from CU200 companies, which are the top 100 public coal and top 100 public gas companies ranked by their potential carbon emissions content of their reported reserves. This report also contains their investor priorities and shareholder advocacy plans and efforts along with key partnerships in their fossil fuel divestment efforts.
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  COP 27 Week 2

  "In this second week of the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) the reports keep coming in." The rest of this resource explains and provides links to several reports and statements from this Conference.
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  COP 27 Underway

  "This week, Egypt is hosting the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27). One thing is clear. Climate reparations is the key issue for this meeting. A paper already presented argues that developing countries will need $2T a year in climate funding. UN Secretary General António Guterres told the assembly that humanity its on a 'highway to climate hell.' Many other world leaders also spoke."
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  Preparing for COP 27

  "This week, Egypt will host the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27), with a view to building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambition to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change. The latest UN report says that climate plans remain insufficient and more ambitious action is needed now. Indeed, the science is disturbing. Most countries are falling short of their commitments. The world is on the brink of irreversible climate breakdown. And there’s a reason for the increasing number of desperate migrants on the borders of countries in the northern hemisphere. Climate change has already increased global inequality. Countries in the tropics have already lost 6% of their GDP and are on track to lose 27% by 2030. A study published last week shows how climate change will have he biggest impact on the world’s poorest, most vulnerable people. And medical journals around the world have joined in printing the same editorial: not meeting the 1.5 degree limit on climate change will cause catastrophic harm to health that will be impossible to reverse."
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  Plastic Pollution is Even Worse than We Thought

  "It’s too late, our bodies are already full of micro and nanoplastics...What can be done about this? We all need to join the movement to rid the earth, and now ourselves, of single use plastic and to reduce our use of all plastic involved in food storage. The first thing to do is to inform yourself, your family and neighbors of the dangers by reading and sharing the articles linked here."
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  Want to Cut Down on Plastic at Home? Subscribe to These Excellent Newsletters:

  This submission of the Creation Care Column compiles a number of environmental newsletters that can provide valuable information on how to lower your carbon emissions and plastic usage.
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  Some Positive News About Plastic Pollution and More Useful Environmental Newsletters

  This submission in the Creation Care Column discusses news concerning good news in the progress of plastic pollution. The author also provides examples of environmental newsletters that can be used to learn more about the topic.
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  Alternatives to Plastics at Home

  "On September 10th Lorraine Deal shared her amazing collection of household products that have no plastic packaging or content. Take a look at these pictures and download her list of products and where to buy them, online and locally."
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  Creating a Pollinator Garden

  "As part of our Season of Creation talks series, Susan Burghes spoke about the pollinator garden she created at the back of the church with some help from Joe Rutter. Then, after the service, she met people at the garden to answer questions and to give away seed packets. She had an avid audience of children who had many questions. In preparing for her talk, Susan wrote a short paper, 'Natural Biology of the Garden [the garden as biome]'..."
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  Introduction to "The Energy Transition: Religious and Cultural Perspectives"

  Not a lot of attention has been given to the religious and ethical issues that come with energy production. This article is a call to religious leaders and ethicists to work with scientists and engineers to help make the world sustainable for future generations. As we are entering a new period of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable resources, we should take considerations from religion and ethics into account to help make the world more sustainable. In the past religious pronouncements were more dismissive of technology and scientific achievements, but if they were to be made for renewable energy there could be great change on the horizon.
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  Methodist Church Climate Commitment to Net-Zero Emissions

  The United Methodist Church has acknowledged their responsibility in climate action. They have committed to converting all facilities associated with the church to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. They provide an explanation for this commitment based on scripture.
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  How faith can inspire environmental action

  As majority of the world associates with a religion, we can see how it effects one's view on nature. As climate change is becoming more and more of a problem, faith and religion can be a driving factor in making a change. What isn't talked about enough is how faith and religion can strike social environmental change. Faith and religion point of views on the environment can lead people to think about the environment as sacred, with compassion, empathy, and kindness. We can make progress on climate change with the help of faith and religions.
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  Faith and the Environmental Movement: A Franciscan Perspective

  This blog post was written by a member of WE ACT, which is an environmental justice-based organization located in Harlem, NYC. The post discusses the relationship between Catholicism and environmentalism. The author argues that Catholics are key environmental changemakers because Catholic teachings and religious leaders, like Pope Francis, emphasize protection for God's creation and care for the poor.
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  St. Francis of Assissi Novena

  This novena from the autumn of 2022 contains nine days of prayers to St. Francis of Assissi. "Though he chose not to be ordained a priest, St. Francis is one of the most revered saints of the church. The great respect accorded to St. Francis is primarily due to his life of service, insistence on the practice of absolute poverty, and great humility. He founded the Order of the Friars Minor, co-founded the Poor Clares, and the Order of St. Francis...He is renowned for his love of animals, the environment, and his desire for peace."
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  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.
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  USCCB Expresses Gratitude for Restoration of Regulatory Provisions for National Environmental Policy Act

  The United States Government approved a rule that added regulations for NEPA and the United Conference of Catholic Bishops supports this change. The reason for the support is that they believe NEPA is vital for ecological and societal safety.