ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the role and influence of religiously affiliated non-governmental organizations, with particular attention to the civil society consultation processes of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Specifically, it examines the activities of such groups around two recent sessions of the Conference of Parties hosted in Latin America, COP 18 in Rio de Janeiro and COP 20 in Lima, as the basis for an analysis of transnational religious environmental networks in the region. This chapter addresses three key areas of dynamism: 1) the role of religious organizations in generating and sustaining the “climate justice” coalition of civil society groups; 2) the catalytic effect of climate change politics on transnational interfaith efforts; and 3) the exchange of religiously particular environmental concepts across confessional boundaries. This discussion, therefore, explores how religious actors are at present actively engaged with transnational issues in ways that both rely upon and diverge from their traditional models of social and political influence.
