Religious environmental groups and global climate change politics in the United States and the United Kingdom: What motivates activism

This study sought to explore the motivation of religious environmental groups (REG) to engage in climate change activism in the United Kingdom and the United States. The engagement of religious groups in climate change activism as civil society actors has potential for a significant impact on global environmental politics and remains largely under examined. Given the recent rise in religious environmentalism, a limited understanding is available of the values which motivate this engagement in global politics. This study examines the beliefs and values that motivate REGs to influence climate change politics in the United States and the United Kingdom. The REG framing of climate change and how their beliefs relate to support for environmental policies are examined in the context of advocacy coalitions. The relationship of REGs to the wider environmental movement and their role in global politics is assessed, as well as whether RGEs constitute an emerging social movement.