Faith in Action
“Too much is made of the highly visible manifestations of self-interest and apparent indifference; the less visible outpouring of acts of altruism and selflessness are rarely factored into the rather crude generalizations that today’s steely-eyed fatalists tend to make about human nature.” - Jonathon Porritt, SDC Chair
The SDC’s report ‘Redefining Prosperity’, published in 2003, exploded the myth that, above a certain threshold, more money makes us happier. The report kick-started the policy debate on alternative measures of well-being, and, as one of a series of five seminars, the SDC invited UK faith leaders to explore sustainable development within their faith communities.
The seminar concluded that neither sustainable development nor sustainable consumption were adequately integrated into policy making, and both politicians and faith leaders failed to adequately address these pressing issues. There was a suggestion that senior faith group leaders could make more connections between their spiritual beliefs and the need to preserve the earth. The seminar proposed that the SDC prepare a report to make clear these connections and to highlight the current faith-led activities on these issues. WWF were invited to join SDC in this undertaking.
This report attempts to show the multiplicity of initiatives taking place across the UK, and points the way forward for other faith groups who share a concern for social justice and environmental issues.
UK faith groups have much to offer in helping to deliver sustainable development. Rooted in their locality over generations, defined by a strong, shared set of non-materialistic values, and experienced in working together with trust and respect, faith groups are well-placed, both in outlook and practice, to influence and deliver sustainable development at all levels.
Sustainable development policymakers and practitioners, with their understanding of the complex links between economic, social and environmental factors and their focus on achieving ‘win/win’ outcomes, can offer faith groups a new framework within which to tackle local problems, provide practical expertise, and signpost sources of funding.
The following overlap exists between faiths’ values and beliefs and the principles of sustainable development:
• Non-materialistic values and ethics
• Interconnectedness and interdependence
• Reverence for life, and stewardship
• Bearing witness and personal responsibility
• Social justice and an ethic of “fair shares”.
Faith groups play an important role in the following aspects of sustainable development:
• Education, information and awareness-raising about sustainable development
• Acting responsibly – faith groups as resource managers, employers and purchasers
• Energy and climate change
• Moving towards sustainable consumption
• The global agenda: trade justice and tackling world poverty
• The social and economic agendas
• Promoting people’s well-being and health.
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Also try:
For Creed and Creation: A simple guidebook for running a greener church
A publication by Gillian Straine and Nathan Oxley which has been endorsed by the Mayor of London. The guide aims to help the capital's churches become greener.
Engagement in practice – case studies
Throughout the report are case studies of both national and local projects. These are presented as examples that show what faith groups can achieve and link in various ways to the issues discussed throughout Section 6.
They are by no means unique or ‘the best’: many of the other cases referred to in the text are equally significant.
[Fersiwn Cymraeg].
“Faith in Action” has been jointly produced by WWF UK and the Sustainable Development Commission.
