# Reflections on Climate Change: A Baha'i Response

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

---

> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Rod Duncan, Reflections on Climate Change: A Baha'i Response, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Reflections on
> Climate Change
> Rod Duncan, Alan Race, Herbert Bronstein,
> Sachin Nandha, and Gusharan Thandi
> “Reflections” is an occasional section in Interreligious Insight. Pieces draw on various
> traditions to unfold an important theme in spirituality, phillosophy, or interreligious work. We hope that readers will make their own fruitful connections for
> dialogue and engagement. This issue offers Reflections on the Earth’s climate.
> 
> A Baha’i Response 						 Rod Duncan
> 
> W      e stand at a unique moment in human existence. It was only
> Baha’i Star; original art,
> 
> a few decades ago that the human race acquired the capacity to annihilate itself through nuclear war. And in this decade we
> Gary E. Stewart
> 
> REFLECTIONS
> have come to a certainty that continuing to pump greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere will derange the equilibrium of the global
> climate. These are not age old problems taken to a new degree.
> They are fundamentally new. They are global.
> Writing in the nineteenth century, Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith,
> wrote: “The wellbeing of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and
> until its unity is firmly established.” This unity has outer, material, and organisational
> aspects. It also has an inner, ethical, spiritual aspect. The solution to the global problems we now face must include both.
> If the problem of climate change were restricted to one city, if that city produced
> all the greenhouse gasses and the pain of climate change were to be visited on it alone,
> the citizens would undoubtedly do all in their power to find a solution. Every individual and every household would make the necessary changes in lifestyle because all
> would know the terrible consequences of inaction.
> Similarly, if the problem were confined to one nation, the government and
> the people of that nation would work together to solve it. Laws would be passed.
> Lifestyles would be changed.
> Rod Duncan is a novelist, screen-writer, poet, teacher of creative writing, and member of the Baha’i community of Leicester, UK.
> Alan Race, of St. Philip’s Center, Leicester, is Editor in Chief of Interreligious Insight.
> Herbert Bronstein is Senior Rabbi Emeritus of North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Illinois.
> Sachin Nandha is founder of the Institute for Global Change, which aims to facilitate public debate on how
> education can properly enhance human capacities and equip people for holistic living.
> Gursharan Thandi is a member of the Sikh community of Leicester and a representative of the Leicester
> Council of Faiths.
> 
> INTERRELIGIOUS   Insight | 57
> Reflections on Climate Change
> 
> But the problem of climate change       the organic oneness of the entire human
> is global and the nations have so far        race.
> failed to act with the unity required to
> solve it.
> Achieving a degree of material,         A Christian response
> organizational unity sufficient to com-                                   Alan Race
> bat global climate change will require
> new institutions and a new way of
> thinking. The Baha’i writings call for
> the establishment of an international
> I    t    is   often
> said that the
> Christian Bible
> legislature and a comprehensive code of                               begins in a garden
> international law adequate to combat                                  (Eden) and ends
> the global problems we now face. In                                   in a city (new
> the words of Baha’u’llah: “The Earth                                  Jerusalem). If the
> is but one country and mankind its            Christian Cross; photo, movement from
> citizens.” But that alone is not enough.     Cetta Kenney
> garden to city is
> Indeed, without an inner unity it would      a metaphor for the journey from simbe impossible. This inner unity requires     plicity to complexity, from countryside
> us all to widen the circle of our loyalty    to urban environment, then in relation
> beyond our race, beyond our nation and       to climate change we have a problem.
> even beyond our religion. It calls us back   For while there is no returning to the
> to the fundamental meaning of the word       countryside-garden innocence of pre-
> “religion” – to bind together.               industrial human living, the urban-city
> In this day the highest manifesta-      has become so compromised as an image
> tion of religion should be our being         of human flourishing that we are left
> bound together as one human family,          scrabbling around for an image that
> unified in all our rich diversity.           might be worthy of a future worth
> Of course, there are those who say      inhabiting.
> that human nature is incorrigibly self-            Yet the garden lives on in the city
> ish and that we will therefore never         and the city invades the garden. The
> be sufficiently united to resolve these      question is one of balance: how to celissues. Paradoxically, this belief tends     ebrate the city without the romanticism
> to push people towards a paralysis of        of the garden and how to honour the
> will and itself becomes an obstacle to       garden without losing the vitality of
> progress. On this the Baha’i writings        the city. I believe that this balance can
> point towards hope. Just as the human        be achieved by contemplation of three
> race has progressed in the past, widen-      guiding values: mutuality, interconnecting circles of loyalty from the tribe to     edness and responsibility. Let me take
> the city state, from the city state to the   each in turn.
> nation, so, Baha’u’llah states, will we            First, mutuality. A new phrase has
> progress again, towards a realisation of     been coined in Christian circles during
> 58 | V8 N1 January 2010
> Alan Race
> 
> the environmental campaigns of recent         spiritual way of capturing this sense of
> years – climate justice. We think of          interconnectedness. God’s beauty, truth
> justice as a relationship between human       and goodness – spirit and wisdom, if
> beings within and between communi-            you prefer – are reflected in all life and
> ties, establishing access to the world’s      not just in human life. To reconnect
> goods and services and sharing their          with a basic attitude of praise might go a
> benefits. In the light of struggles for       long way towards moderating our baser
> justice between cultural, ethnic and reli-    exploitative instincts and policies in relagious groups, nationally and interna-         tion to the earth itself.
> tionally, we are learning that the same            Third, responsibility. The basis for
> struggles are inherent in the dynamics        this lies in the notion of stewardship.
> of human-made climate change. The             In the rush to blame all dualisms (egs.
> rich world has produced the carbon and        separations of God and World, of perthe poor world bears the negative conse-      sons and nature, of economics and comquences with their loss of livelihood and     passion) for our current climate change
> sustainability. To be set free from the       dilemmas, let us not dismantle that
> ravages of climate change is a cry for jus-   sense of self-transcendence, with its joys
> tice. The language of justice at the heart    and its tragedies, which is also part of
> of all Christian liberation theologies has    human experience. We are one with all
> entered the environmental lexicon and         life, but also self-consciously aware of
> is binding all of earth’s communities in      the flow of all life. This is the origin of
> relationships of mutual accountability.       our responsibility for how the earth is
> Second, interconnectedness. In the       treated, how we think of our place withlight of cosmological and evolution-          in it, and how we should behave accordary sciences the Christian doctrine of        ingly. A hurting world deserves being
> creation ex nihilo is undergoing major        listened to and climate change is its cry
> re-evaluation. The extension of creation      for recognition. Would it be too much
> backwards in time and sideways in space       to call up compassion as our approprientails that human consciousness is part      ate ethical response to the hurting earth
> of a story which we have hardly begun to      itself? Stewardship entails much more
> comprehend. A belief in creation, any-        than simply ‘managing’ from some supway, was always more about an intuition       posed point of superiority in a hierarchy.
> that the world is not its own explana-             Both garden (basis of life) and city
> tion, and that we are part of something       (flourishing of life) deserve their place in
> much larger than we might imagine,            a balanced view of responding to climate
> as it was about a beginning point in          change. The 3-fold cord of mutuality,
> time. That ‘larger’ is underlined now         interconnectedness and responsibility
> by the sense of interconnectedness of         will surely be part of any new human
> which climate change has made us dra-         future which may emerge from the commatically aware. The theme of the whole       ing transformations brought about by
> created order giving praise to God is a       climate change.
> 
> INTERRELIGIOUS   Insight | 59
> Reflections on Climate Change
> 
> A Jewish Response                              ancient rabbis had a phrase: “We are
> Herbert Bronstein            partners with God in the work of creation, in Tikkun Olam, the preservation
> and repair and perfecting of this our
> W       e    are
> seeking the
> all
> 
> resources of the spirit
> earthly habitation. The massive destruction of forests in Thailand, in Brazil,
> in the American Pacific Northwest, the
> in our confrontation
> forests which both absorb CO2 and prowith climate change,
> duce oxygen, the killing of the forests in
> a chaos-monster of
> Colorado by invasive beetles, the melt-
> Jewish Star; photo,  our own making,
> ing of glaciers and the polar ice caps,
> Cetta Kenney         which has been tipthe loss of many species are all part and
> ping our earthly home into a possible
> parcel of the effects of climate change.
> downward spiral of potentially inexo-
> The threat to this beautiful earth is so
> rable deterioration.
> great as to require nothing less than the
> We turn to an ancient parable:
> response of multitudes of the children of
> “God says to Adam (“Humankind”): ‘I
> Adam, humankind, world-wide.
> have made many worlds before this one.
> The first century Palestinian sage,
> This one is especially good and beauti-
> Rabbi Joshua the son of Hananiah proful. Take care to protect it and preserve
> vides another parable which compleit because, if, through you, it comes to
> ments the first: “Two men are in a boat
> ruin, there is no one to repair it after
> out on high waters. One begins drilling
> you. And besides, you will be responsia hole in his side of the boat. The other,
> ble for the passing of many, many thoufrightened, remonstrates: ‘What in the
> sands of my creatures. (Kohelet Rabbah
> world are you doing!?’ the other answers
> on Eccles. 7.14). ‘”
> bluntly: ‘This is my side of the boat!’”
> This homily-nugget is found in an
> Our society is captive to a privatis-
> 8th century CE collection of sermons
> tic hyper-individuality, each person out
> on verses from Ecclesiastes. In this case
> for himself, for his own personal gain,
> the verse is: “Who can (is to) repair that
> with an accompanying atrophy of “the
> which has been distorted?”
> sense of the other”. An oil refinery, for
> Some say that climate change is
> example, dumping toxic effluents into a
> either not taking place or, if it is, it is
> Great Lake claims “this is my side of the
> an aspect of nature’s cycles with which
> lake. I own this property.” But we are
> human activity has nothing to do.
> in the same boat and ancient Scriptures
> Science disagrees with this viewpoint.
> says that the earth is the Lord’s and
> Just as in the parable, the vast majority
> the fullness thereof….You are merely
> of scientists in the world tell us that we
> sojourners on it.” The earth is not just a
> must accept responsibility and accountresource for private gain or a dump for
> ability for climate change and thus, the
> private refuse.
> well being and healing of nature. The
> And this brings us to the third
> 
> 60 | V8 N1 January 2010
> Sachin Nandha
> 
> and last archetypal story: Moses on the      A Hindu response
> mountain receives the moral law. But                                Sachin Nandha
> down below the people are worshiping
> the Golden Calf. When we look to find
> the source-causes of climate change, we
> often find the worship of the Golden
> T       he Vedic
> traditions
> of Hinduism
> Calf, the greed for material gain. And
> offer imagery
> everywhere we find opposition to plans
> that values the
> or programs or laws which mitigate the
> power of the
> negative affects of climate change again
> Hindu Om; photo Cetta Kenney
> natural world.
> we often find the Golden Calf. Or we
> Scholars of the
> find the ignorance or misinformation
> Vedas have held forth various texts and
> promoted by worshipers of the Golden
> rituals that extol the earth (bhu), the
> Calf.
> atmosphere (bhuvah), and sky (sva), as
> Science and technology give us the
> well as the goddess associated with the
> tools needed to stop climate change and
> earth (Prthivi), and the gods associreverse its negative effects. What we
> ated with water (Ap), with fire and heat
> need is a spiritually ethically based con-
> (Agni), and the wind (Vayu). They have
> sciousness and values to build a worldnoted that the centrality of these gods
> wide coalition of energy and will to put
> and goddesses suggests an underlying
> those scientific tools to use.
> ecological sensitivity within the Hindu
> On the Jewish High Holiday of the
> tradition. In later Indian thought, these
> New Year which celebrates the creation
> Vedic concepts become formalized into
> of the world, we are given a metaphor.
> the Samkhya denotation of five great
> Imagine a large scale of balances; on one
> elements (mahabhuta): earth (prthivi),
> side are put all the single good deeds
> water (jal), fire (tejas), air (vayu), and
> of all of humans and on the other side
> space (akasa). The meditative and ritual
> of the scale, all the destructive deeds
> processes of Hinduism entail awareof all human beings. One deed of one
> ness of these constituents of materialperson can tip the scale to one side or
> ity. Daily worship (puja) employs and
> the other. The well being of the world is
> evokes these five powers.
> in the balance. Every life preserving act
> Hinduism has long revered the tree.
> we do counts for the perfecting of cre-
> Early seals from the Indus Valley cities
> ation. Whatever wasteful, destructive or
> (c. 3000 BCE) depict the tree as a powheedless act can tip the scales of climate
> erful symbol of abundance. References
> change to more destruction.
> to India’s trees can be found in a wide
> The Prophet Isaiah put it: “Not for
> range of literature, particularly in epic
> chaos, destruction, did God create the
> and poetic texts. India has a long history
> world. For habitation God formed it!
> of forest protection, from the edicts of
> (Isaiah 45.18).”
> Asoka, to the individual work of various
> 
> INTERRELIGIOUS   Insight | 61
> Reflections on Climate Change
> 
> Rajas, to the modern Chipko move-            the body and the vitality of the senses.
> ment, wherein women have staved off          Other spiritual paths advocate renunforest destruction by surrounding trees      ciation of all sensual attachments to the
> with their own bodies.                       world. However, even within the paths
> Rivers have been and continue to        that relegate worldly concerns to a status
> be an integral part of Hindu religious       of secondary importance, the doctrine
> practice. More than fifty Vedic hymns        of Dharma emphasizes a need to act
> praise the Sarasvati, a river (now dry)      “for the sake of the good of the world”.
> associated with the goddess of learning      Particularly in regard to such issues as
> and culture. The Ganges River which          the building of dams in the Narmada
> flows through northern India likewise is     River Valley, this requires taking into
> referred to as a goddess originating from    account social ecology or the need to
> the top of Siva’s head in the Himalaya       integrate environmental policy with the
> Mountains, giving sustenance to hun-         daily needs of tribal and other marginaldreds of millions of modern Indians.         ized peoples.
> Traditionally, the rivers of India have           The current worldwide ecological
> always been considered pure. Modern          crisis has come to our attention during
> industrial contaminants and human            the past four decades and its effects have
> wastes have fouled the rivers, though        been felt within South Asia more recent-
> Ganges water still plays an important        ly. As the region copes with decreasing
> role in India’s ritual life.                 air quality in its cities and degraded
> Hinduism offers a variety of cosmo-     water in various regions, religious thinklogical views which may or may not situ-     ers and activists have begun to reflect on
> ate the human in the natural world in        how the broader values of Hindu tradian ecologically friendly manner. On the      tion might contribute to fostering greatone hand, the agrarian and often near-       er care for the earth. Gandhi’s advocacy
> wilderness images of India found in the      of simple living through the principles
> Vedas, Upanisads, and epic texts present     of nonviolence (ahimsa) and holding
> a style of life seemingly in tune with the   to truthfulness (satyagraha) could give
> elements. The Samkhya and Tantra tra-        some Hindus pause as they consider the
> ditions affirm the reality and efficacy of   lifestyle changes engendered by conthe physical world. On the other hand,       temporary consumerism. Most of the
> the Advaita Vedanta tradition asserts        Hindu population lives within villages
> that the highest truth involves a vision     that, barring natural disasters such as
> of oneness that transcends nature and,       flood or drought, are self-sustaining
> in a sense, dismisses the significance of    and use resources sparingly. However, as
> the material world by referring to it as     the population of South Asia increases,
> illusion or maya.                            and as the modern lifestyle continues to
> One model of Hindu spirituality         demand consumer goods, the balance of
> encourages physicality through yoga          sustainability can shatter. With apprepractices that enhance the health of         ciation and acknowledgment of the five
> 
> 62 | V8 N1 January 2010
> Gursharan Thandi
> 
> great elements, with a new interpreta-             Two of our fundamental beliefs are
> tion of social duty (dharma) expanded         service to the community and equality
> to include the ecological community,          between people, values which encourand with remembrance of its ethic of          age a spirit of co-operation and sharabstemiousness, the Hindu tradition can       ing of resources equally. This is seen
> develop new modalities for caring for         in our community kitchens which are
> the earth.                                    maintained by voluntary service. Many
> According to Hindu religion, “dha-        farmers in the Punjab grow their crops
> ranath dharma ucyate” – that which            organically because they feel that the
> sustains all species of life and helps        earth must be respected and treated well.
> to maintain harmonious relationship           Water is a primary link between human
> among them is dharma. That which              beings and nature.
> disturbs such ecology is adharma. Hence            Ten years ago, Sikh communities
> we can say:                                   around the world celebrated the inauguration of “The Cycle of Creation”.
> As the unwise act attached to           Sikhism follows three hundred year
> action, Bharata,                        cycles – the most recent of which ended
> so the wise should act unattached,      in 1999. In 1699, a time of terrible perintending to maintain the world ...     secution of the Sikhs, the coming cycle
> was named “The Cycle of the Sword”.
> The three hundred years that followed
> A Sikh response                               were certainly dominated by armed
> Gursharan Thandi          struggles. But the Cycle of creation,
> which we have just entered, has already
> 
> A  s Sikhs,
> our ties to
> led to dramatic changes in environmental practices by Sikh Gurudwaras.
> Sikh Symbol; original Art
> 
> the environ-             It has also led to a launch of a new
> Swami Tapasananda
> 
> ment around         initiative called EcoSikh. This is the
> us is very          Sikh community’s contribution to the
> important and,      United Nations Alliance of Religions
> in a sense, it is   and Conservation (UNARC) Seven Year
> spiritual. The      Plan project, whose aim is to help
> histories of our Gurus tell us tales of the   the world’s major religions create long
> places where they sat in meditation, in       term plans to improve their relationdeep forests and high upon mountains          ship with the environment. The plans,
> and beside rivers. There is something         in which each tradition celebrates its
> magical and transcendent about praying        unique relationship with the environin nature’s spaces – the connection and       ment and puts its teachings on ecolthe feeling of oneness is very apparent –     ogy into action, were launched at a
> a life that suggests mastery over oneself     major event at Windsor Castle, UK,
> rather than over nature.                      in November 2009, and were used to
> 
> INTERRELIGIOUS   Insight | 63
> Reflections on Climate Change
> 
> inform the UN Framework Convention           would make a wonderful statement to
> on Climate Change in Copenhagen the          wider society that changes for the better
> following month.                             can be made.
> The EcoSikh Five Year Plan is a his-         The Eco Sikh Five Year Plan contoric decision of commitment by Sikh         tains many ambitious proposals – for
> communities around the world to make         instance, for mass educational work
> our children’s future greener. It contains   around the world on how eco principles
> many far-reaching ideas for improving        are reflected in Sikh understanding, and
> eco practices at different levels – indi-    for twinning projects to help share and
> viduals, Gurudwars and links with the        embody best practices.
> wider community. For example, the                 Sikhism teaches us that we create
> fact that all Gurudwaras run a langar        the environment around us and that
> (communal kitchen) involves them in          our surroundings are a reflection of our
> the production of food on a massive          inner state. The increasing barrenness
> scale. If the whole system of sourcing,      and the desolation of our planet reflect
> purchasing, preparation and cooking          a spiritual emptiness within us. The
> became a self-consciously green process      solution, according to our Gurus, lies in
> this would make a substantial difference     prayer and caring for the world around
> to the way energy was being used. And        us – the very principles of eco-theology
> such self-conscious attention to detail      laid down by Guru Nanak Devji.
> 
> 64 | V8 N1 January 2010
>
> — *Reflections on Climate Change: A Baha'i Response (Used by permission of the curator)*