ABSTRACT
Buddhism is often represented as an inherently environmental religion. Contemporary Buddhist organizations and conservation activists alike draw on Buddhist concepts such as interdependence, compassion, and nonviolence as inspirations for environmental movements throughout Asia and in other parts of the world. However, historians such as Johan Elverskog have demonstrated that this representation is ahistorical and that in the past, Buddhist institutions exploited their environments to fuel their expansion. Elverskog tempered his argument by pointing out that Buddhism is varied and flexible enough that it can change, and this is demonstrated in many contemporary societies where Buddhist teachers and groups inspire and enact state policy and promote local conservation initiatives. This chapter will engage with case studies from throughout Asia – India, Taiwan, and Thailand – to explore how Buddhist communities understand and approach human-environment relations in the era of climate change. The chapter will explore multiple understandings of environmental cosmologies and forms of care (inspired by anthropologist Karine Gagné's work) beyond canonical or state narratives through an interdisciplinary lens, incorporating scholarship by anthropologists, historians, geographers, Indigenous Studies scholars, and religious studies scholars. Ultimately, just as Buddhism is varied and diverse, so too are Buddhist approaches to the changing climate and global issues that result from it.
