Season 2, Episode 3 - Religion and Climate Change

This week's show explores questions of religion and the environment, and specifically issues of climate change. We begin with a look at the concept of Nature-Based Solutions or NBS, and how a variety of groups are promoting religious engagements with nature-based solutions, from green infrastructure projects and solar panels to efforts like the UN's 2030 Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. We'll also look at how religious worldviews shape local communities' ability to adapt to climate change, looking at case studies from Zambia and Malawi where traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and religious practices are coming into conflict with new forms of charismatic Pentecostal and Evangelical Christianity in Africa, which is leading to a loss of climate resilience and intergenerational conflict over religious rituals and environmental conservation. Finally, we'll look at the role of ecological education in Pope Francis's 2015 Laudato Si' Encyclical and explore how religions can foster a new ecological awareness and hopefully help address the global climate crisis.

I'm producing these episodes in parallel with a course I'm teaching at California State University, Chico. Each week I explore a different topic related to the end of the world, from doomsday preppers and our deepest fears to the role of religion, media, and politics in thinking about the end of the world.

Audio samples:

Intro: "Soul Searching" by Jeris. CC-BY (3.0).

http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/VJ_Memes/62203 Ft: Radioontheshelf

Outro: "Where the Moon Shines Bright" by Kara Square. CC-BY (3.0).

http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mindmapthat/62227 Ft: Mr_Yesterday, Stefan Kartenberg

For additional show notes and materials references in this episode be sure to visit my End of the World page:

https://www.chriscrews.com/end-of-the-world-podcast/

Thanks for listening.

Dr. Crews