Schools, Religion and Teaching about Climate Change and Sustainable Development - Indonesia and Nigeria

In April 2022 the United Nations Environment Programme awarded Sir David Attenborough the Champion of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award. Attenborough has been broadcasting about the natural world for seventy years. Over that time the tone of his broadcasts has changed from marvel at the natural world to raising awareness about climate change and threats to ecosystems and biodiversity. His BBC TV series Blue Planet II (2017) highlighted the problem of marine plastic pollution in a shattering call to action watched by over 14 million viewers (Dunn et al. 2020). At the 2021 United Nations Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow, Attenborough said about the devastating effects of climate change, ‘Is this how our story is due to end? A tale of the smartest species doomed by that all too human characteristic of failing to see the bigger picture in pursuit of short term goals?’ (Attenborough 2021). Yet ever the optimist, Attenborough’s faith in the best of human nature is resilient; ‘If working apart, we are a force powerful enough to destabilize our planet, surely, working together, we are powerful enough to save it’ (Attenborough 2021). Attenborough’s persistence in raising awareness about the natural world and consistent faith in the best of human nature is a fitting emblem for education’s role in responding to the global concerns of climate change, environmentalism and sustainable development. This chapter draws on examples from Indonesia and Nigeria to examine religious education’s responses to these global challenges....