“Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.” — Voltaire

Opinion piece by Adrian Shaw, Interfaith Climate Justice Associate at Interfaith Scotland

Voltaire is not the most obvious choice to begin an article on faith and climate. He was an writer of the Enlightenment and a sharp critic of the Church. Yet his comment is entirely appropriate for our times and for our struggle to respond to climate change.

As we look at the growing crisis of climate justice and the failures of government action our reasons for optimism are diminished and the need for faith is increasing. The evidence for a crisis is growing with record emissions of greenhouse gases, rising temperatures and weather records broken across the world. The European Union Copernicus Weather Service reported in September that the summer of 2024 (from June to August) was the hottest on record in the northern hemisphere with extreme temperatures in Japan and China and record breaking winter temperatures in Australia. This comes on the back of 2023 being the warmest year since records began, 1.45 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial average. The United Nations predicted in 2023 that, unless governments commit to more ambitious cuts in emissions, global temperatures could rise by up to 2.9 degrees Celsius.

There are also concerns about the failure to implement government commitments. Repeatedly targets have been missed or adjusted to avoid embarrassment. In April 2024 the Scottish Government, while committed to net zero emissions by 2045, scrapped its existing climate targets, seeking to replace them with a more flexible regime. Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, the coalition of civil society organisations including Interfaith Scotland, strongly criticised the Scottish Government’s failure to live up to its promise to be a leader in promoting climate justice.

The United Nations climate conferences have also been painstakingly slow in persuading governments to take effective action. Cop 29 will be held at Baku in Azerbaijan in November 2024, an oil producing state, like Dubai in the United Arab emirates where the conference was held last year. Concerns about the role of the oil industry in negotiations and the human rights records of some host countries have created doubts about the effectiveness of the conferences and whether they can deliver climate justice.

This gloomy prognosis returns us to faith.  When reasons for optimism fail what does faith have to offer? A clear pointer emerged at the interfaith week hosted by the Iona Community held on the island of Iona in September 2024. Pilgrims of different faiths came to the island from around the world to discuss, pray and call for climate justice. While not denying the depth of the crisis it was clear the faith of those present was a powerful motive for action.

The gathering was timely as the participants were able to come together to offer their support to the director of Interfaith Scotland, Maureen Sier, as she prepared to go to the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference in Samoa, with a message of support for the people of Samoa and strong call to governments attending the conference to take stronger actions to promote climate justice. With a combination of spirituality, action and advocacy, faith can offer the deepest source of strength to draw on. When political leaders weaken and governments fail, the challenge is for people of faith to come together to renew their energy through action and advocacy. As with the Commonwealth Heads of Government, so globally with Cop29 in Baku.

Send messages of encouragement and hope to those taking part. Do not let them go unsupported.

The message sent from Iona to Samoa can be found on Interfaith Scotland’s website.

Adrian Shaw, Interfaith Climate Justice Associate at Interfaith Scotland