So far, religion has often been present only in the form of prayers when disasters strike. But the experience of interfaith communities shows that prayer can transform into real action.
GreenFaith Indonesia, for example, created the program “Faith for Climate Actions”: green sermons instilling ecological awareness, worship tours embedding messages of Earth stewardship, and interfaith declarations at Puja Mandala in Bali.
The movement has also innovated through Wakaf Energi (Energy Endowment)—faith-based philanthropy to fund solar panels in Muhammadiyah schools, mosques, churches, and communities in West Kalimantan. There is also the Fiqh of a Just Energy Transition, an effort to explore Islamic jurisprudence relevant to the renewable energy era.
On the social side, the “energy fasting” movement, driven entirely through social media, successfully encouraged hundreds of people to save electricity worth tens of millions of rupiah. The #SavePulauPari campaign also united interfaith communities to protect a small island threatened with sinking.
The strength of religion lies not only in the number of its followers, but in the moral authority and solidarity it can mobilize.
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The Voice of Faith Must Be Present in Policy
The greatest challenge today is not merely increasing the number of programs, but ensuring that the voice of faith is present in the public and policy arena. So far, climate decisions have often bowed to political compromise and short-term economic interests.
Religion has the moral authority to rebuke the state. Not to add to the politicization of religion, but to serve as a counterbalance in the midst of economic calculations that too often sacrifice the poor.
The climate crisis may divide, but it can also unite. When floods strike, they never ask whether the victims are Muslim, Christian, Hindu, or Buddhist. It is precisely there that the meaning of faith is revealed: universal solidarity for sustainable life.
In the face of the climate crisis, religious communities must not stop at ritual and liturgy. Our task is to bring prayer to life—in solar panels, in sermons that awaken, in interfaith solidarity, and in the courage to challenge greedy rulers.
Because protecting the Earth is not merely activism; it is worship. And only by making faith an energy of change can we ensure that future generations will still have a worthy home called Earth.***