Welcome to Locally Sourced, a biweekly Covering Climate Now newsletter for journalists working to localize the climate story. Share this newsletter with colleagues and journalism students interested in localizing the climate story.
Story Spark: Faith & Religion
All the world’s religions, despite their differences, share a reverence for creation that’s rooted in ancient texts and teachings to be good stewards of our “common home.” Globally, faith communities are playing a powerful role in promoting environmental stewardship with land conservation projects and addressing climate change by transitioning to renewable energy for their places of worship and organizing community-driven sustainability efforts.
In recent years, religious leaders, inspired by Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical letter Laudato Si’, have advocated that climate action be seen as part of a religious mandate to protect our shared natural world and to minister to marginalized populations that are disproportionately affected by climate change. However, recent surveys have shown that while a surprising 90% of Christian leaders in the US believe in man-made climate change, most “never discussed it in their sermons or teachings, and 25% only mentioned it once or twice.” For certain faiths, particularly evangelical Christian denominations, this climate disconnect cuts even deeper with different theological interpretations of “dominion” and a belief that a higher power will intervene before climate change’s impacts become too severe.
This makes local faith communities a rich source of climate stories. Exploring what motivates individuals to act, how their faith informs those decisions, and the impacts they’re having at the local level could yield great human-focused stories with regional, national, and global resonance.
Expert Tips
Brian Roewe, environment correspondent for National Catholic Reporter, offers tips on reporting on religion and climate. He has covered that intersection for more than a decade and leads coverage at NCR’s vertical EarthBeat.
Find a house of worship. Whether you’re interested in reporting on the urban heat island effect, flooding following extreme rainfall, or a community solar project, there is a strong chance that a local faith community is involved and could be a good source. They may serve as “community lighthouses” after severe storms and assist in recovery efforts or engage local leaders on climate solutions like neighborhood solar, tree plantings, and more. They’re also often helpful in identifying sources — including connecting reporters with people bearing the brunt of climate impacts.
Dispense with science-vs-religion tropes. While certainly true in some cases — when it comes to climate change, many religions recognize the scientific consensus. Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ was lauded for getting the climate science right, as was a similar document written by Islamic scholars. The American Association for the Advancement of Science hosts a program facilitating dialogue between scientific and religious communities, reflecting a growing view among scientists that religion can plan an important role in mobilizing greater responses to climate change than the scientific community can alone can’t.
Faith communities are ripe with climate advocacy stories. Many faith groups have pushed for federal investment in clean energy and supported regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Reach out to local faith leaders and ask about climate-focused advocacy efforts among their communities. Who is leading the charge? And what have they achieved? Also, review the faith backgrounds of business leaders and politicians and ask whether their faith informs their actions.
Stories We Like
- Extreme heat, wildfires, rising sea levels, and melting glaciers are altering pilgrimages and threatening temples across the world. The Washington Post examines how four countries’ faithful are adapting as climate change upends their sacred rituals and holy sites.
- The Tulane Hullabaloo digs deep into the complexities of Christian environmentalism in southern Louisiana, where, for some, “oil and faith are fused into one identity.”
- In Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, there is a growing “Green Islam” movement that aims to lead the way in caring for the climate. The Christian Science Monitor highlights the movement’s action, which are rooted in moral messages from the Quran.
- The Albertan highlights why faith leaders in Toronto are speaking out, and even getting arrested, in response to Canadian banks’ financing of fossil fuel companies.
- In Indiana, Evangelicals, the religious group least likely to view climate change as a serious problem, are beginning to adopt solar for economic reasons. IndyStar reports on pastors who are encouraging clean energy without mentioning climate change.
- In western Ukraine, climate change is threatening unique winter religious customs that require cold weather, the Kyiv Independent reports.
Resources
- Dig into Faith for Earth: A Call for Action, a 57-page book from the UN that describes how many of the world’s religions view our common home, and their duty to safeguard it.
- Explore the results from the latest US National Survey of Religious Leaders, which asked 1,600 clergy members about their views and whether or not they speak about climate change to their congregations.
- The Laudato Si’ Platform, established in 2015, offers parishes and dioceses, religious orders, educational institutions, hospitals, and families guidance and resources “to protect our common home.”
- Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth, known as the Islamic Laudato Si’, was published in 2018 and is based on the teachings of the Quran and the practices of Prophet Muhammad. It is an official Islamic document that lays out the moral responsibility of human beings to live in balance and harmony with nature.
- Examine how the global religious populations have changed from 2010–2020 through Pew Research Center survey results.
- Reach out to your state’s Interfaith Power & Light affiliate to find local congregations taking action to mitigate future climate change through energy efficiency and conservation.
Experts
- Mark Chaves, professor of sociology and religion, Duke University
- Katharine Hayhoe, atmospheric scientist and professor, Texas Tech University
- Robin Veldman, program coordinator of religious studies, Texas A&M University
Before We Go…
The next Locally Sourced will highlight declining snowpacks. Have you reported on how winter snow droughts influence water scarcity and other impacts? Send them to us at local[at]coveringclimatenow[dot]org. We’d love to consider them for the next edition of Locally Sourced and our media trainings and social platforms.
Want more story ideas? Check out the Locally Sourced archive for more topics to explore, including resilient agriculture, emergency alerts, climate anxiety, and more.
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