Religion and climate change in Indonesia: a narrative synthesis of environmental ethics, responsibility, and climate action across religious traditions: The Role and Views of Religion in Indonesia Against the Global Climate Change Phenomenon
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: . Febriyanti S, Wulandari P, Haq RQ, Nazar IA. 2020. Religion and climate change in Indonesia: a narrative synthesis of environmental ethics, responsibility, and climate action across religious traditions. Pros Sem Nas Masy Biodiv Indon 6: 226-233. Religious traditions can shape environmental values, moral obligations, community norms, education, and collective action, but their contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation should be distinguished from the biophysical causes of climate change and from measured climate outcomes. This narrative review reconstructs an archived Indonesian manuscript that compared six religious traditions considered in the source—Islam, Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism—and examines their relevance to climate change in Indonesia. The source manuscript contains substantial literature on climate impacts and environmental teachings but does not report reproducible databases, search dates, screening criteria, or quality appraisal; therefore, the revised article is presented as a focused narrative review rather than a systematic review. The synthesis separates three analytical levels: religious environmental ethics, mechanisms that can influence behavior and institutions, and climate-relevant actions or outcomes. Across traditions, recurrent themes include stewardship and responsibility, restraint toward excessive consumption, respect for interconnected life, justice, harmony, compassion, and intergenerational concern. Islamic literature emphasizes khalifah, amanah, prevention of fasad, and ecological responsibility; Protestant and Catholic literature develops creation care, justice, peace, and the integrity of creation; Hindu literature emphasizes cosmological balance and Tri Hita Karana; Buddhist sources highlight interdependence, compassion, and restraint; while Confucian sources stress self-cultivation, responsibility, and harmony between humans and the wider order of nature. These ethical resources can support climate literacy, low-carbon behavior, forest and ecosystem protection, disaster preparedness, and community mobilization when translated into specific programs. However, the reviewed evidence is dominated by theological, educational, and descriptive studies, and rarely measures changes in greenhouse-gas emissions, carbon storage, energy use, or climate resilience attributable to religious interventions. Religion should therefore be treated as a source of motivation, legitimacy, social organization, and ethical framing that complements climate science, policy, technology, and monitoring. Future research should evaluate faith-based climate programs using behavioral and biophysical indicators and comparative or longitudinal designs.
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7219987109