Pope Francis’ recent visit to Southeast Asia generated much attention. Many underscored his role in promoting interfaith understanding, while some even considered him a potential advocate for the environment. This was because his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ (“On Care for Our Common Home”) not only carried a spiritual message to protect the environment but also reinforced the importance of interfaith environmentalism.
The term “interfaith environmentalism” refers to collaboration which helps to bridge religious differences by promoting interfaith cooperation on environmental causes, encouraging interreligious goodwill, and reducing interreligious tension. As he is regarded as a global leader in environmental preservation, some hoped the Pope would catalyse action in that direction when he visited Indonesia last month.
In Indonesia, religious leaders and organisations can potentially shape an individual’s perception of the environment. Socio-environmental movements in Indonesia use religious values to address ecological problems. For Muslims, Muhammadiyah Green Cadres (KHM/Kader Hijau Muhamamdiyah) and Front Nahdliyin for Natural Resources Sovereignty (FNKSDA/Front Nahdliyin untuk Kedaulatan Sumber Daya Alam), respectively affiliated with the two largest Islamic organisations in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), are some examples of “Green Islam” movements. Christian and Catholic groups include Green Christian (Kristen Hijau) and Youth Movement for Waste and Environment (Gropesh/Gerakan Orang Muda Peduli Sampah dan Lingkungan Hidup), respectively.
As one scholar points out, interreligious collaboration is necessary as all people have contributed to environmental problems, and many religions can influence their adherents to help resolve these acute issues. It is important to know whether cross-religious collaborations on environmental causes exist in Indonesia, or if these movements work in silos.
As part of Indonesia’s Green Islam movement, several faith-based environmental movements have attempted to harmonise environmental issues and interfaith relations. Interfaith Rainforest Indonesia (IRI) is an interreligious alliance that encourages interfaith leadership to emphasise religious values motivating activism to end tropical forest deforestation. Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah is a Muhammadiyah programme that aims to build an interfaith community supporting freedom of religion and belief through environmental conservation. Green Faith Indonesia emphasises interfaith values in building a spirit of action to address climate change.
However, it seems that the impact of these movements is still limited. At the individual level, engagement in interfaith environmentalism in Indonesia remains low. From 1 March to 21 April 2024, the Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) UIN Jakarta conducted a national face-to-face survey as part of the REACT (Religious Environmentalism Actions) programme funded by the Netherlands. REACT aims to empower religious leaders, youth and faith-based environmental activists, and to provide a forum for policymakers to share experiences in protecting the earth from environmental and climate change. The survey examined Indonesians’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours towards the environment and climate change, sampling 3,397 respondents (1,702 male and 1,695 female) aged 15 years and above. They came from all provinces and the results are weighted to accurately represent the national representation of each (official) religion in Indonesia.
The PPIM survey reveals the low number (28.73 per cent) of respondents who usually work with people of different religions to protect the environment. Only 27.23 per cent of respondents had the opportunity to work with people of other religions on environmental issues.
More than 70 per cent of respondents have never or rarely cooperated with people of different religions on environmental issues. Despite Indonesia being a multireligious country, social mixing across religious lines remains wanting. Almost 32 per cent of respondents did not have friends from different religions, and about 37 per cent had only a few friends from other religious groups. Meanwhile, 24.6 per cent of respondents reported having “some” friends of different faiths while 6.45 per cent said they had “many” friends from other faiths.
The homogeneity of interreligious interactions is evident in rural and urban areas: 20.88 per cent of rural respondents had “some” and 6.55 per cent had “many” friends of different religions. For urban respondents, 29.83 per cent had “some” and 6.54 per cent had “many” friends of different faiths. This presents a challenge for Indonesian society in terms of fostering tolerance in social life and encouraging interfaith environmentalism.
Another 2024 study co-written by the first author with another researcher on the tolerance of Muslims in Indonesia towards non-Muslims shows that religion and religiosity are not factors that influence the level of tolerance among Muslims. Instead, their lack of social interaction with people of different religions was the key factor contributing to low tolerance. In this context, the Pope’s encounter with the Grand Imam of the Istiqlal Mosque was a critical moment, as it sent a message that interfaith meetings and interactions between religious communities were possible.
The PPIM survey findings show strong public agreement (68 per cent of respondents) on the importance of religious leaders in advocating and addressing environmental and climate change issues. The survey showed that eight out of 10 Muslim respondents believed that religious leaders (kyai or ulama) should address environmental issues. This aligns with the Humanitarian Academy for Development (HAD) survey (which surveyed only Muslims), which found that more than four-fifths of respondents believed that Muslim religious leaders should be more active in climate change-related actions, and over two-thirds of Muslim religious leaders believed they should encourage individuals to consume less and adopt environmentally friendly consumption patterns.
The PPIM survey indicated a high level of agreement among Indonesians to collaborate on environmental issues: 76 per cent of respondents disagreed that religious differences hindered interfaith cooperation on environmental issues. This suggests that interfaith environmentalism has great potential to take root in Indonesia.
The Pope’s recent visit can hopefully serve as a spark to encourage more interactions between Indonesia’s religious communities. Mutual encounters and social interactions around common environmental concerns can provide a strategic platform for interfaith environmentalism.
Iim Halimatusa’diyah is a visiting fellow in the Regional Social and Cultural Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, a senior lecturer at Islamic State University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah, and a deputy director for research at the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) UIN Jakarta. Ronald Adam is a lecturer at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, and a researcher at the PPIM UIN Jakarta.
This article was first published in Fulcrum, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s blogsite.
