You and your Meeting or Worship Group can join with other local faith communities to plan and prepare to be a hub of climate resilience and adaptation.
What is Climate Resilience?Resilience is the capacity of a community to respond and adapt when exposed to a climate hazard. A resilient community can withstand shocks and rebuild itself when necessary. Resilience in social systems has the added human capacity to anticipate and plan for the future. Humans depend on resilience for survival. We can prepare for climate chaos. |
What is climate Adaptation?Climate adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change that are already happening, and preparing for future impacts. It is about understanding, planning and taking action to protect people and moderate potential damage to ecosystems. Ultimately, adaptation will mean changing our social and economic systems to minimize human causes of climate change. |
Why are resilience and adaptation relevant to us as Friends?
Climate resilience and adaptation are crucial for us to understand because they directly impact our well-being, safety, and future sustainability. Here are a few reasons why:
Protection from Climate Change Impacts
As we all know, climate change is already causing environmental disruption. We probably can't avoid these impacts, but we can plan ahead and prepare for the deleterious effects of floods, droughts, heatwaves, and other climate-related disasters in our communities.
Safeguarding Human Health
Climate change has significant implications for human health, including increased risks of heat-related illnesses, infectious diseases, and respiratory problems. We can mitigate some of these health risks by improving early warning systems, healthcare infrastructure, and emergency response capabilities in our communities, as we learned so painfully during the COVID pandemic.
Protecting Natural Resources and Biodiversity
By conserving biodiversity and protecting and restoring habitats, we ensure the resilience of our natural systems, which are essential for maintaining ecological balance. Engaging local communities, including indigenous peoples, in climate resilience and adaptation initiatives is essential. Indigenous knowledge and practices often have a deep understanding of ecosystem dynamics and sustainable resource management. Incorporating traditional knowledge helps us develop effective strategies that respect local values, promote biodiversity, and ensure long-term sustainability.
Social Justice and Equity
Climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including low-income communities, indigenous peoples, and marginalized groups. Climate resilience and adaptation strategies should be designed to prioritize equity, ensuring that everyone has equal access to resources, information, and decision-making processes. By participating in the development of local strategies, Friends can help reduce disparities and build a more inclusive society that supports the needs and rights of all.
Globally, adaptation is a climate justice issue, because the reality is that adaptation requires money. For example, to protect against sea level rise and increased flooding, communities might build seawalls or relocate buildings to higher ground. Developing nations with limited financial resources are less able to afford and carry out such adaptation projects. This kind of adaptation is especially difficult in places that are also facing extreme climate impacts. Globally coordinated efforts to adapt, which ensure that as many places as possible are livable, can help as climate change causes people to migrate to new places.
Protection from Climate Change Impacts
As we all know, climate change is already causing environmental disruption. We probably can't avoid these impacts, but we can plan ahead and prepare for the deleterious effects of floods, droughts, heatwaves, and other climate-related disasters in our communities.
Safeguarding Human Health
Climate change has significant implications for human health, including increased risks of heat-related illnesses, infectious diseases, and respiratory problems. We can mitigate some of these health risks by improving early warning systems, healthcare infrastructure, and emergency response capabilities in our communities, as we learned so painfully during the COVID pandemic.
Protecting Natural Resources and Biodiversity
By conserving biodiversity and protecting and restoring habitats, we ensure the resilience of our natural systems, which are essential for maintaining ecological balance. Engaging local communities, including indigenous peoples, in climate resilience and adaptation initiatives is essential. Indigenous knowledge and practices often have a deep understanding of ecosystem dynamics and sustainable resource management. Incorporating traditional knowledge helps us develop effective strategies that respect local values, promote biodiversity, and ensure long-term sustainability.
Social Justice and Equity
Climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including low-income communities, indigenous peoples, and marginalized groups. Climate resilience and adaptation strategies should be designed to prioritize equity, ensuring that everyone has equal access to resources, information, and decision-making processes. By participating in the development of local strategies, Friends can help reduce disparities and build a more inclusive society that supports the needs and rights of all.
Globally, adaptation is a climate justice issue, because the reality is that adaptation requires money. For example, to protect against sea level rise and increased flooding, communities might build seawalls or relocate buildings to higher ground. Developing nations with limited financial resources are less able to afford and carry out such adaptation projects. This kind of adaptation is especially difficult in places that are also facing extreme climate impacts. Globally coordinated efforts to adapt, which ensure that as many places as possible are livable, can help as climate change causes people to migrate to new places.
how can we best engage?
As Friends we can have a significant impact on local climate resilience and adaptation efforts in the following ways:
Stay informed about climate change impacts in your area, and the importance of resilience and adaptation. Educate yourself and others about the local challenges and opportunities for action. Share information with your Meeting, friends, family, and community members to raise awareness and build support for climate resilience initiatives. Start a conversation with your Meeting about how to become a climate resilient hub (see "Connections and Inspiration" section, below).
Participate with local community organizations, environmental groups, and government agencies that focus on climate resilience and adaptation. Attend public meetings, workshops, and town halls to voice your concerns, ideas, and support for resilient policies and initiatives.
Advocate for sustainable infrastructure projects that consider climate risks and enhance long-term climate resilience in your community. This may include promoting the use of renewable energy, supporting green building practices, sustainable transportation, and encouraging the adoption of resilient design and construction standards for buildings, roads, and public spaces.
Contribute to local green spaces and biodiversity conservation efforts. Plant trees and native plants, create pollinator-friendly gardens, and support land trusts and local initiatives that protect and restore natural habitats. Green spaces improve local resilience by providing cooling effects, reducing flood risks, and supporting biodiversity that contributes to ecosystem resilience.
Collaborate with other faith communities, neighbors, community groups, and local authorities to initiate or support climate resilience projects. Join or form local climate action groups to collectively work on resilience initiatives such as community gardens, climate education programs, or disaster preparedness initiatives. Networking and collaboration amplify our efforts as Friends creating a more significant impact. Some Meetings across the country have engaged with other faith communities in their surrounding area to serve as hubs for people who need shelter, cooling, or other support. How might we, as Friends, plan ahead for the climate-driven disasters that will be coming over the next five to ten years?
Advocate for policies that prioritize climate resilience and adaptation at the local, regional, and national levels. Engage with elected officials and policymakers to express your support for climate-resilient planning, sustainable land use policies, and investments in climate adaptation infrastructure. Urge decision-makers to allocate resources to climate resilience projects and ensure that vulnerable communities are included in adaptation efforts.
By taking these individual actions and actively participating in local climate resilience and adaptation efforts, Friends can contribute to building a more resilient and sustainable future. Individual actions, when combined with collective efforts, can create a significant positive impact on local resilience and adaptation initiatives.
Stay informed about climate change impacts in your area, and the importance of resilience and adaptation. Educate yourself and others about the local challenges and opportunities for action. Share information with your Meeting, friends, family, and community members to raise awareness and build support for climate resilience initiatives. Start a conversation with your Meeting about how to become a climate resilient hub (see "Connections and Inspiration" section, below).
Participate with local community organizations, environmental groups, and government agencies that focus on climate resilience and adaptation. Attend public meetings, workshops, and town halls to voice your concerns, ideas, and support for resilient policies and initiatives.
Advocate for sustainable infrastructure projects that consider climate risks and enhance long-term climate resilience in your community. This may include promoting the use of renewable energy, supporting green building practices, sustainable transportation, and encouraging the adoption of resilient design and construction standards for buildings, roads, and public spaces.
Contribute to local green spaces and biodiversity conservation efforts. Plant trees and native plants, create pollinator-friendly gardens, and support land trusts and local initiatives that protect and restore natural habitats. Green spaces improve local resilience by providing cooling effects, reducing flood risks, and supporting biodiversity that contributes to ecosystem resilience.
Collaborate with other faith communities, neighbors, community groups, and local authorities to initiate or support climate resilience projects. Join or form local climate action groups to collectively work on resilience initiatives such as community gardens, climate education programs, or disaster preparedness initiatives. Networking and collaboration amplify our efforts as Friends creating a more significant impact. Some Meetings across the country have engaged with other faith communities in their surrounding area to serve as hubs for people who need shelter, cooling, or other support. How might we, as Friends, plan ahead for the climate-driven disasters that will be coming over the next five to ten years?
Advocate for policies that prioritize climate resilience and adaptation at the local, regional, and national levels. Engage with elected officials and policymakers to express your support for climate-resilient planning, sustainable land use policies, and investments in climate adaptation infrastructure. Urge decision-makers to allocate resources to climate resilience projects and ensure that vulnerable communities are included in adaptation efforts.
By taking these individual actions and actively participating in local climate resilience and adaptation efforts, Friends can contribute to building a more resilient and sustainable future. Individual actions, when combined with collective efforts, can create a significant positive impact on local resilience and adaptation initiatives.
Connections and inspiration
Meetings as climate
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Faithful resilience:
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more about meetings as climate resilient hubsWatch Cherice Bock of Sierra Cascades Yearly Meeting deliver the 2021 Keynote at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting on the topic, "Building Hubs of Climate Resilience: Will Friends Act in Radical Faithfulness?"
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turning churches into climate resilience centersCreation Justice Ministries has a climate resilience project to help churches weather the "physical and the spiritual storms of the climate crisis.” The project director says, "resilience isn’t some passive response to climate change. It’s an opportunity to exercise deep democracy and bounce forward into a more just and equitable society.”
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Churches as hubs of climate resilienceThis Sojourner's article chronicles the stories of how several churches reimagining their land, mission, and ministry for the age of climate change.
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regenerationRegeneration is an amazing, must-see website from the folks who brought us Drawdown. It is a what-to-do manual for all levels of society, from individuals to national governments and everything and everyone in between. It describes a system of interlocking initiatives that aspires to stem the climate crisis in one generation.
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deep adaptationThe Deep Adaptation Forum (DAF) offers free events and online platforms for people who are seeking and building supportive communities to face the reality of the climate crisis.
The mission of DAF is “to embody and enable loving responses to our predicament”. The predicament refers to societal collapse, resulting mainly from the climate emergency and other global crises such as biodiversity loss and soil degradation. |
creating resilience for climate justiceRead the unabridged version of Cherice Bock's keynote address to North Pacific Yearly Meeting in 2021, titled Courage, Fear, & Care: Creating Resilient Communities to Meet Climate Justice in Western Friend. Cherice asks, "Will we do our part to build communities of care that can withstand the coming storms together?" and goes on to share her thoughts about what it looks like to do this kind of work as Friends today. |
enabling youth now growing into this new world
You Can Teach About Climate Change in Every Subject and Grade Level. Here’s How
Madeline Will |
Your connector to free climate resources
for all K-12 subjects. Margaret Wang |
Teaching about Climate and Energy?
Our team of educators and scientists has reviewed and organized the best free teaching resources for K-12 through college. |