According to a Pew Research Center report, 80% of Americans with a religious affiliation believe that God wants humans to care for the Earh but only 52% of this group consider climate change a critical issue. Moreover, the Pew survey found that religious Americans are less likely than non-religious Americans to think that global warming has resulted from human activity, 39% compared to 70% respectively.
As a supplement to the survey mentioned above, Pew released a report in December 2022 that found that younger Evangelical Americans are more concerned about climate change than their elders. Younger Evangelicals, particularly college students, recognize climate change as an urgent problem that demands important action.
To equip younger Evangelicals with the tools to become effective communicators about climate change within their own community, AVDF funded a training workshop hosted by Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.
For the second consecutive year, Westmont hosted more than 70 Evangelical students, professors, and national experts from across the U.S. at the “Faith.Climate.Action.” Workshop for Christian climate advocacy. The in-person event took place in June and provided students and faculty with strategies to help them change the attitudes and behaviors of skeptical Evangelicals with respect to climate change.
“Climate change is a global environmental challenge that raises deep questions about what constitutes responsible stewardship of the Earth and justice for all its inhabitants,” said Amanda Sparkman, wildlife biologist and director of Westmont’s environmental studies program, in an article about the workshop. “Christian colleges and universities are ideally positioned to bring a redemptive influence to this important issue for contemporary society.”
AVDF grantees including Rare, the Climate Advocacy Lab and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication trained the participants on motivations, behaviors, and barriers when it comes to climate change. As with the cohort from last year’s workshop, participants will be able to apply competitively for funds to carry out projects to promote climate-friendly behavior change in their religious communities.
To learn more about this year’s Faith.Climate.Action Workshop, click here to view a feature published in the Montecito Journal.
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