Committed Christians more sceptical of climate change

A recent poll has found that committed Christians are more likely than other faiths and the final population to be sceptical about climate change. 

In a survey of two,064 UK adults by Whitestone Insight, over three quarters (77%) of the final population and an analogous proportion of individuals of religion (76%) agreed that the climate is changing.

This fell to 61% amongst “exclusivist” Christians, defined as those that imagine that theirs is the one true faith. 

Faiths across the board were more prone to say that humans weren’t accountable for climate change – 28% of the final population versus 45% of exclusivist Christians, 34% of exclusivist Muslims, and 51% of exclusivist Hindus.

This was far higher than the proportion of non-exclusivist Christians (35%), Muslims (31%) and Hindus (31%) who held the identical view. 

While 70% of respondents overall agreed that climate change was one of the crucial pressing issues facing the world today, this fell to 61% of exclusivist Christians. 

Dr. Jake Scott, secretary of the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life, which commissioned the survey, said of the findings: “Despite just about all faiths emphasising an obligation of care and guardianship to the Earth, people of religion within the United Kingdom are more sceptical of climate change than their nonreligious counterparts, especially regarding each its existence and its man-made causes.

“However, the explanations for this remain complex and multifaceted, with differences inside and between faiths explored inside this timely report.

“If climate change is to be confronted seriously, there should be greater efforts to have interaction with faith communities across the country.”