Religion has famously motivated many cooperative achievements in world history - from building pyramids and cathedrals to binding together empires. Can religion help us solve even bigger problems facing the world today? All the big religions provide scriptural support for stewardship of the environment. Researchers at the CSSC are seeking to harness the cohesive power of religion to tackle global environmental problems, such as the current climate crisis. 

The world's population is overwhelmingly religious (7 billion believers compared with only 500 million atheists). Can these convictions and group alignments be harnessed to tackle global warming? Many already think so - from the movement to establish 'Veganadan' (as a radical alternative to Ramadan!) to this year's celebration of 550 years of Sikhism by planting a million trees around the world. Drawing on such initiatives, CSSC researchers are developing a research-driven toolkit for channeling religious bonds and beliefs into action on climate change.