The Church Climate Action: Identifying the Barriers and the Bridges

Abstract

For many decades, efforts are being channelled towards fostering effective robust church-based climate action across the globe. However, this desired action has unfortunately been in short supply. This has been attributed to some factors that serve as barriers to effective church-based climate action. In an extensive review, this article did not only identify these barriers but also the bridges or pathways out of these barriers/challenges. After a critical review of about 150 empirical studies with a few anecdotal literature, findings showed that beyond the theological barriers that are commonly referenced in many studies, the church also faces institutional barriers in their bid to address climate change. The biblical concept of stewardship, climate change awareness/knowledge creation, strategic communication and engagement, and strategic fundraising and mobilisation were found to be the bridges/pathways towards achieving a robust church-based climate action. Implications of findings for the church and research are discussed.

Suspecting the Figures: What Church Leaders Think About Government’s Commitment to Combating COVID-19 in Nigeria

“…The choice of the narrative analytical method was imperative because of the abundance of rich but individually unique data that resulted from experience that can only be aptly captured through profound listening and narration. Specifically, using Colaizi's proposed steps in analysing qualitative data (cited in Nche, 2020aNche, , 2020bNche, , 2020cNche et al, 2019) as a guide, the researchers did the following:…”

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“…This is because despite the effervescence of Pope Francis' encyclical and its updated reflection in Laudate Deum (2023) continue to generate, questions arise as to whether this radical transformation is actually taking place (McCallum 2019; Praise and Action 2023). In the African context, for instance, Nche (2020Nche ( , 2022 notes a gap between the Catholic priests' framing of the climate change message and the more local, pressing issues affecting parishioners. A more seamless and effective framing showing how competing issues, such as local poverty and migration, are deeply connected to climate change would allow more engagement.…”

Religious Environmental Activism

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“…Although tension between faith groups was largely absent, religious actors at COP 23 still faced tensions between themselves and co-religionists who did not attend-and who may not even believe climate change is happening, let alone that their leadership should address it. This seems to be especially problematic for Christianity (Nche 2020), many of whose membersparticularly evangelical Protestants and non-Hispanic Catholics Arbuckle and Konisky 2015;Funk and Alper 2015;Zaleha and Szasz 2015)-hold beliefs that serve as barriers to climate action, such as biblical absolutism and literalism that leads believers to distrust science and/or see it as an opposing belief system (Nche 2020;Simpson and Rios 2019;Rios 2020;Arbuckle and Konisky 2015), dominion belief that humanity is supposed to control nature (Nche 2020;, idolatry belief that caring about environmental issues constitutes "neo-pagan nature worship" (Zaleha and Szasz 2015), eschatological belief that climate change may play a role in the apocalypse and the return of Jesus (Nche 2020;Zaleha and Szasz 2015), fatalism belief that the future is predetermined and the outcome inevitable (Nche 2020;Mayer and Smith 2019), and/or political beliefs that glom on to climate change skepticism because of their religious groups' embracement of political conservatives who typically disdain climate action (Veldman 2019). Faith leaders at COP 23 also met with UNFCCC executives to express the importance of climate issues to people of faith and the importance of the UNFCCC incorporating the perspectives of religion.…”

“…IntroductionFor many decades, there have been increasing concerns within Christianity about the need to address anthropogenic climate change. This was catalyzed partially by the indictments of Lynn, who blamed Christian values for the current state of global climate(Nche et al 2016), and partially by growing environmentalist interest in the potential of faith communities following the failure of several UN climate change conferences and other environmentalist efforts in securing political will and public engagement to fuel robust action on climate change(Nche 2020a(Nche , 2020cWilkinson 2012;Rudd 2015) Nasr (1967). notes that the ecological crisis is essentially a crisis of values and that, religions being the principal sources of values in any culture, they are concerned in the decisions humans make about the environment.…”