Mobilizing Communities of Faith to Tackle the Climate Crisis

When it comes to responding to crisis, particularly one that is as sweeping as that of climate change, panelists at “In the Era of Worsening Disasters, Strengthening Climate Resilience,” a session at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions had a lot to say with regard to the contributions of faith-based communities and organizations.

Lucy Cummings, Faith Sector Resilience Director at New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS) highlighted that “governments cannot do it all,” and that they are often “overwhelmed” by the enormous needs and costs of disaster recovery. She, alongside fellow presenter Austin Chu, Deputy Director of Global Cause Partnerships at UNICEF USA, touched on a significant way to help ease this overwhelm.

“It’s very important that we’re working with local communities because they understand what the needs are,” Austin explained, adding that faith-based organizations often naturally serve a supportive role to communities confronting crisis.

Explore these ideas and more in our latest video* and see more from the 2023 PoWR at https://tzuchi.us/parliament-world-religions.

*Also featuring Alex Tan & Sandy Lu of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, Joan Javier Duval (Minister at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, VT), and Diane Maltester (Co-Board Chair of the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County).