Environment - Our Work

At the global level we believe our first commitment is to preserve the diversity, richness, and abundance of life on Earth. And we believe this therefore requires us to take urgent action to reduce global climate change and to help people who are already being harmed by it to safely adapt to its effects.

At the local and national levels, individual CCs pursue other forms of action as dictated by the needs of their specific locations. In addition to longer term projects such as tree planting and building solar cookers, several CCs have provided emergency relief in humanitarian crises caused by severe weather and other types of natural disasters.

Featured Environment Cooperation Circles

The URI CC Green Prophet is an up-to-the-minute daily environmental news blog on the most innovative green developments happening across the Middle East—from recycling to renewable energy to state-of-the-art green design of buildings and cities.

UNISOES CC in San Salvador, Brazil. They hold regular seminars that feature different themes of the environment. Last August they conducted a three-day workshop entitled “Reconciliation with Mother Nature for a Sustainable Life.”

Qewña CC in Jujuy, Argentina, is involved in reclaiming the heritage of indigenous values in Argentina and engaging in intercultural dialogue, with a focus on peace and care for Pachamama (Mother Earth).

Through its chapters in 28 of the 50 American states, Interfaith Power and Light is working to counteract climate change through the “greening” of congregational buildings across the United States. And through its newest program, the Carbon Covenant, it is partnering with the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) in supporting on-the-ground tree-planting projects in Cambodia, Ghana, Cameroon, and at Mt. Kilimanjaro in East Africa.

The Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment in Los Angeles, Calif., USA, includes representatives from a variety of environmental and faith-based communities who believe that caring for the environment is a spiritual matter for all faiths. The Coalition assists congregations in their efforts to become more involved in environmental activism and to actively protect and preserve creation through responsible stewardship.

Greenfaith Australia of Melbourne, Australia, brings together people from different faith traditions to foster ecological and cultural flourishing through diversity. They share their wisdom in responding ethically to the ecological problems their society is facing and to act practically on ecological issues aimed at healing themselves and their environment.

The Peacemakers’ Circle CC of Manila, Philippines distributed relief supplies to victims of the Ondoy typhoon, which battered Metro Manila in September 2009.