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

1
Religion and Risk The challenge of harnessing
faith and reducing exposure

• Dr Lisa Schipper
• Stockholm Environment Institute Bangkok,
  Thailand
• lisa.schipper_at_sei.se
• London 7 February 2008

2
Outline

• Context
• Risk
• Religion
• Examples from the field
• Conclusions
• Questions for discussion

3
Context

• 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
  behaviour-related fields

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Risk

• Threat resulting from combination of Hazard and
  Vulnerability to that Hazard
• R H x V
• 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)

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What is religion?
6
What is religion?
7
What is religion?
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Religion

• 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

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Religion

• Influential (positive)
• Support and hope
• Structures social systems
• Provides social and cultural identity
• Prayer as a coping mechanism
• Influential (negative)
• Divides people, cause of many wars
• Climate change is already recognised by many
  religious groups

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Where do they meet?

• 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

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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

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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

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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
• Indirectly, because it influences
• Time availability
• Livelihood choices
• Settlement location
• Social networks

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Conclusions

• 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

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Recommendations

• 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

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Questions

• 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?