The role of religion in tackling water and climate challenges around the world

26 October 2021

Eline Anvik

Round Table on Religion & Water

As a follow up of the Amsterdam Agreement ‘Values-based action’ (AIWW 2019), we continue the critical conversations about the role of religion in water and climate challenges. The focus this time will be on: 1. What religious principles and values could contribute to our approach to tackling water challenges around the world? 2. How are religious leaders and communities currently contributing to managing water in times of climate change? 3. What additional potential contributions could religious leaders and communities make to managing water crises? 4. How to stimulate cooperation between religion, government, business and academia on shared issues related to water and climate change?

The conversations in this round table seek to deepen the recently published volume ‘Water in Times of Climate Change. A Values-driven Dialogue’, which goes beyond the usual and predictable analyses, by bringing religion and values into a discussion that is often dominated by technocratic solutions.

This book is built on a unique process of consultation which took heart, mind and body into account – a linkage of wisdom shared by academics, policy makers, and ordinary citizens. The narratives in the book reflect the processes, the realities and the advocacy for change much needed in today’s pandemic-riddled world of inequities. The theme of water is that of life itself. Intrinsic to all health: planetary, governance, and urban and rural human realities, water defines the essence of our lives and the imperatives of our individual and institutional accountability for today – and for a tomorrow.