Climate Interfaith Dialogue: Building Community Climate Resilience in The Era of Religious Moderation

Climate change is a natural phenomenon that is currently a serious issue, starting from the local, regional the international levels. The United Nations Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) has reported that climate change began in the 17th century when the world entered the Industrial 1.0 evolution. Climate change has become an increasingly lively discussion when the world is increasingly faced with natural disasters, ranging from heat waves, erratic rain, landslides, forest fires, and floods, to rising sea levels. As a result, all countries must experience the impact of climate change, especially developing countries, archipelagic countries, and poor countries that are classified as vulnerable countries, one of which is Indonesia.

Indonesia is an archipelago that stretches from Sabang to Merauke, consisting of thousands of islands that are classified as a group that is very vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by climate change. As many as ± 2,000 islands in Indonesia are threatened with sinking in the year 2100 due to uncontrolled sea level rise. Of course, this phenomenon must be addressed immediately to reduce the impact of climate change that will be obtained. Many ways can be done to minimize the impact that has occurred, one of which is to build the climate resilience of Indonesian society.

The concept of “Tragedy of Common” coined by Ostrom explains that environmental degradation is caused by the activities of the earth system and human activities in the agricultural, industrial, and energy sectors. Ostrom explained in more detail that the damage to nature produced by human activities causes climate change to accelerate and worsen, so awareness, real action, and building climate resilience in society are needed. Building community awareness and climate resilience is a must to minimize the impact of climate change.

To build a climate-resilient Indonesian society, a transformation of information is needed that can provide understanding and awareness to all levels of Indonesian society, which includes all ethnicities, tribes, and religions. The concept of Climate interfaith dialogue is an interfaith dialogue on climate change as a concrete and real step to disseminate information, exchange ideas, and build climate resilience in Indonesian society. Climate interfaith dialogue can provide space for public discourse on the impact of the climate crisis which is currently increasingly felt by all levels of society.

Building a Spirit of Togetherness through Interfaith Dialogue in the Era of Religious Moderation

Indonesia is a great nation with a million diversity, differences become the pillars of the life of the nation and state. Let’s just say biodiversity, geographical location, cuisine, ethnicity, culture, race, and religion. Like the term double-edged knife, Indonesia’s diversity can be transformed as a potential as well as a challenge in the dynamics of nation and state. On the one hand, the many differences owned by Indonesia make this country more colorful, while on the other hand, this million diversity has the potential to make Indonesia a nation that is sensitive to the issue of division. Seeing this condition, an instrument is needed to minimize divisions caused by differences in views.

According to a communication expert, Hendry Recliefe said that to prevent divisions caused by differences in views is through interactive dialogue, be it dialogue between races, tribes, or religions. Interfaith dialogue is one way that can be taken to minimize friction due to differences in views that can trigger division. The purpose of interfaith dialogue is to get to know and appreciate each other, increase understanding in terms of one’s faith, join hands to solve common problems, foster a spirit of togetherness, and create harmony.

The concept of this dialogue is also in line with the Seven Priority Programs of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, where interfaith dialogue is the actualization of religious moderation which is currently still being echoed.

Prof.Dr.Phil Komaruddin Hidayat, Directorate General of Islamic Religious Affairs in his article entitled “Why Religious Moderation?” explained that religious moderation is a way of view, attitude, and religious behavior adopted and practiced by most of the Indonesian population, from the past until now. Of course, the inclusion of interfaith dialogue into the Seven Priority Programs of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia confirms that the government pays special attention to the importance of holding interfaith dialogue as a solution to strengthening the spirit of togetherness in a multicultural society.

Climate interfaith dialogue as a step towards building a climate-resilient society

Based on research conducted by the Pew Research Center, around 87% of the world’s population in 2050 will be religious people who will experience a very significant impact on climate change. Worse still, the majority of the world’s people who will feel the greatest impact are people living in archipelagic and developing countries, and Indonesia is no exception. The 27th Conference of Parties (COP) in Egypt has called for action to mitigate and adapt to climate change as quickly as possible to minimize the far greater impacts of climate change in the future. Of course, collaboration between all parties is needed to be able to take action to mitigate and adapt to climate change. According to the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Antonie Gutteres in his speech at the COP27 event raised the issue of the importance of interfaith dialogue to overcome common problems based on their respective beliefs. Gutteres believes that, as humans who collectively feel the impact of climate change, we should join hands, exchange ideas, and take real collaborative action to minimize the impact of climate change.

Climate interfaith dialogue is a forum to exchange ideas and discuss and share actions to tackle climate change collectively based on their respective beliefs. The European Environmental Network in its research found that Climate interfaith dialogue can be a forum for all humanity in taking mitigation and adaptation actions against climate change in a massive, structured, and organized manner. This is because climate interfaith dialogue can provide real solutions from various religious perspectives which certainly play an important role in tackling the impacts of climate change. In addition to being able to provide solutions to climate change issues, climate interfaith dialogue can also be an effective forum for communication in a multicultural society.  Therefore, Climate interfaith dialogue is the right solution to build a climate-resilient society.

Of course in its implementation, Climate interfaith dialogue has a big challenge, so concrete steps are needed so that the dialogue is carried out according to the goal, and does not bring discord. According to connectingdevelopment.org, there are several steps in bringing climate change messages to climate interfaith dialogue. The first is to uphold the values of tolerance, this is intended to minimize friction and divisions that may arise in the implementation of dialogue. Second, building a common narrative, meaning that climate change that is currently occurring is a common issue (common problem) and is the responsibility of all humanity to take mitigation and adaptation actions. Third, prioritizing real collaborative action on all activities that will have an impact on climate change mitigation and adaptation actions.