Sydney, Australia
Millennial and Gen-Z adult Christians in Australia want their churches to become more involved in the fight against climate change, a new report shows.
Tearfund Australia’s They Shall Inherit the Earth climate report, released on 21st March, reveals more than three in five young Christians are very, or extremely, concerned about climate change, with two thirds of young Christians calling on the local church to lead the way in taking action to address it.
A man rides a motorcycle through a water-logged street during heavy rains in Mumbai, India, on 1st July, 2019. PICTURE: Reuters/Francis Mascarenhas.
Tearfund is an international Christian relief and development agency that focuses on working in poor communities around the world that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Matthew Maury, CEO of Tearfund Australia. PICTURE: Courtesy of Tearfund Australia.
Matthew Maury, CEO of Tearfund Australia, said the organisation is seeing climate change impact directly on communities in Africa, Asia and the Pacific through the increase of natural disasters, and the gains of recent years were being reversed, pushing people further into poverty.
“For a couple of decades we have seen poverty actually decreasing globally and we have been able to celebrate that, but climate change is this tipping point where we’re actually seeing it go the other way because of climate-related disasters,” Maury said.
He says Tearfund wanted to gauge the views of 18 to 40-year-old Christians and church leaders about climate change, and their expectations and understanding of the church’s response.
Nearly two thirds of Christians (62 per cent) aged 18 to 40 were either “very” or “extremely” concerned about climate change when they thought about the future, the report revealed.
Only five per cent were not concerned, with younger Christians significantly more likely to report being concerned.
While 86 per cent of senior church leaders believe climate change is happening and 97 per cent believe Christians have a role to play in caring for the environment, in 2021 it was most common for leaders with roles in preaching to touch on environmental matters only “occasionally” (36 per cent) or “rarely” (34 per cent).
One of the findings revealed a “disconnect between climate change and core issues of faith”.
“There is a strong theological basis for approaching climate change through the lens of the Gospel, Christian stewardship and love for the poor. However, some church leaders express the view that creation stewardship needs to be separated from the idea of climate change, with the latter not being part of the Church’s concern,” the report says.
Maury said the study showed Millenials and Gen-Z see climate as a really significant issue and also believe that the church has a role to play and want to see leaders, including those within the church, speaking up and engaging with the issue.
“But it’s a difficult topic, it’s a polarising topic, it has been politicised,” he said.
“I’ve been the CEO for Tearfund for over 10 years now and the number one reason that Christian churches and individuals write and say ‘we don’t want to fund Tearfund’ is because we talk about climate, and climate impacts and climate justice issues.
“That shows us it’s an issue that the church in Australia struggles with and doesn’t really see relevance for the church to be involved with this, or understand why Christian organisations like Tearfund should be involved in this work.”
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This included churches which had admitted to him being climate deniers, saying it was a “man invented issue and not a God issue”. Among other barriers were Australia’s high consumerism, failure to acknowledge the plight of far away nations as their responsibility, the politics of nationalism, and the immediate pressures of dealing with disasters and emergencies close to home such as floods and bushfires.
“It’s becoming a little more difficult to ignore the impacts when they’re happening in our own back yard…so it’s not a problem somewhere else, it’s a problem that we’re all facing, but it makes it a little bit easier to talk about, I think when it’s shifting the dial when it’s no longer a toxic discussion point, but it’s actually something the church and others need to engage with.
“I continue to be surprised and disappointed by some of the people’s response…I often think that it’s because it’s an issue that’s been so politicised, or polarised – it’s a left issue or it’s a right issue – rather than it’s a Gospel issue, rather than it’s an issue of being faithful to who we are to care for creation and to care for our neighbour and to think about the impact on our neighbour.”
He said Christians are familiar with the call to “love our [geographic] neighbour” but this could also extend to “our neighbours in time” – the generations to come.
Respondents felt more could and should be done in churches around the country to tackle the issue of climate change, including preaching the need to care for creation, getting involved in community groups and clean-up days, and reducing plastic waste.
It showed 80 per cent are willing to take action to tackle climate change in the next 12 months with most respondents acknowledging the link between inaction and the effect that this could have on the world’s poor. The report details the findings of a seven-part study conducted by leading research agency the National Church Life Survey, as well as surveys conducted in 2021.
