Environmental Ethics and the Climate Crisis: Perspectives of the World's Religions

Abstract

Religious ethical values are ideally intended to serve as a strong moral foundation for promoting environmental protection and addressing the climate crisis. However, empirical evidence shows that environmental degradation and the effects of climate change continue to worsen, despite the fact that the world’s religions normatively teach principles of responsibility, balance, and harmony between humans and nature. This disconnect between ethical teachings and ecological actions reveals fundamental challenges in internalizing religious values within public policy and social behavior. This study aims to compare perspectives on environmental ethics across the world’s religions and to assess their relevance in responding to the climate crisis. The methodology used is qualitative library research, involving content analysis and comparative analysis of religious texts, official documents from religious institutions, and relevant academic literature. The findings reveal that Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism share common frameworks of environmental ethics that emphasize moral responsibility, cosmic balance, and sustainable stewardship of nature. These results highlight that religion has strategic potential as a source of normative values to bolster policies and practices for sustainable development in confronting the global climate crisis.