Transcript Religion and Risk: The challenge of harnessing faith and reducing

RELIGION AND RISK:
THE CHALLENGE OF
HARNESSING FAITH AND
REDUCING EXPOSURE
Dr Lisa Schipper
Stockholm Environment Institute – Bangkok, Thailand
[email protected]
London – 7 February 2008
Outline
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Context
Risk
Religion
Examples from the field
Conclusions
Questions for discussion
Context
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‘People have always dealt with risk’ – but still not
adapted: why? Is religion a limit to adaptation?
Technical terminology aside, people understand risk
through a certain lens, influenced by their culture
Usually not included in studies because sensitive,
complex
At IPCC Plenary (November 2007) scientists urged
greater involvement of social scientists in the next
assessment report particularly from behaviourrelated fields
Risk
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Threat resulting from combination of Hazard and
Vulnerability to that Hazard:
R=HxV
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Reducing risk means:
 Reducing
causes of hazard (flood, drought, earthquake,
cyclone)
 Reducing causes of vulnerability (underlying factors
that make people more exposed to specific hazard)
What is religion?
What is religion?
What is religion?
Religion
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Shared conviction/set of principles
All forms of belief systems including spirituality,
mysticism, divine faith expressed through formal,
organised institutions as well as superstition,
mythology and folktales
Centre around some form or forms of divinity
Religion
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Influential (positive)
 Support
and hope
 Structures social systems
 Provides social and cultural identity
 Prayer as a coping mechanism
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Influential (negative)
 Divides
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people, cause of many wars
Climate change is already recognised by many
religious groups
Where do they meet?
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Strong link between religion and nature (divine
creation, moral obligation to protect)
Belief systems have always been a way to explain
biophysical processes, including extreme climate
events (lack of scientific knowledge, world views)
Religion influences
 Perceptions
of risk
 Attitudes about response
 Exposure to risk
El Salvador: Perceptions and Risk
Religion affects perceptions and attitudes
 Evangelical Protestants and liberation
theology Catholics
 Difference in perception of risk, in attitude
toward response
 Deep roots in political history
 Religion can be harnessed to help
stimulate risk reduction, but only with
Catholics
Ethiopia: Religious Duties and Risk
Religion affects exposure to risk
 Orthodox Christians and Muslims
 Difference in crop loss between two
groups
 Orthodox Christians have many more
religious duties
 Muslims are not as badly affected by
crop loss
 Not as political, but affects livelihoods
seriously
Conclusions
Religion directly and indirectly affects risk
 Directly, because it influences
 Perceptions
of what a hazard represents
 Perceptions of exposure to a hazard
 Attitudes about reducing exposure
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Indirectly, because it influences
 Time
availability
 Livelihood choices
 Settlement location
 Social networks
Conclusions
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Belief systems should be part of vulnerability and
impact analyses
Will influence willingness to adapt – and limit
adaptation, adaptive capacity
There are aspects that can be harnessed to raise
awareness (where faith does not interfere)
More thinking required to understand options when
religious view direct cause of vulnerability
Recommendations
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Identify how belief systems are constructive/
unconstructive
Develop platform for dialogue with religious
leaders and groups on climate change and disaster
risk
Integrate such studies into IPCC and Global
Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction process
Enhance dialogue with faith-based groups
Questions
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Role of culture and/or belief systems in your
research?
How was it manifest – constraint or benefit?
If constraint: how did you overcome?
If benefit: how did you take advantage?