Climate and Environmental Stewardship (CES)
Through Climate and Environmental Stewardship, NCA aims to prevent, mitigate and respond - to the extent possible - to negative impacts from climate change and environmental degradation.
The worsening climate and environment crises impact all areas of our work and will further exacerbate risks for the world's most vulnerable people in the future. In response, NCA has initiated a new thematic area in Climate and Environmental Stewardship. NCA and partners will contribute to equipping communities to become resilient against natural hazards, adapt to the effects of climate change, mitigate drivers of climate change and remediate environmental degradation. This will enable communities to live in their surrounding environments and ecosystems for their own well-being and that of future generations.
Related Sustainable Development Goals
Key Challenges and Structural Barriers
Climate Crisis and Environmental Degradation Threatens All Life
Climate change and it’s consequences endanger lives and, livelihoods. Environmental Degradation threatens biodiversity and the entire creation. Whereas climate change is induced by human’s use of unsustainable energy sources, has environmental degradation multiple causes. One direct cause is the unsustainable use of biodiversity, land and water resources by people and international actors.
Disproportionate Impact on the Vulnerable
Climate change affects the most vulnerable—particularly in developing countries—through extreme weather events like heat, flood and, drought affects human well-being. Environmental degradation makes the live of resources deprived people more difficult and may lead them to unsustainable use of natural resources.
Vulnerable groups like poor people, people living with disability, marginalized people
Women and girls are overrepresented in vulnerable groups and often carry the greatest burden of environmental degradation and climate-related impacts, from water and food insecurity to displacement and health risks.
Cross-Sectoral Disruption
Climate and environmental issues affect all sectors, health, education, economy and infrastructure like for water, sanitation and energy, and the access to services from these infrastructures. Both issues undermine development gains.
NCA’s Responsibility to Act
NCA is part of a global community of humanitarian and development actor and will therefore try to intervene where other duty bearers do not. NCA aims to reduce the negative impacts of these crisis and support communities in building resilience.
Empowering people and faith actors for change
A niche where NCA can play a key role is in enabling faith-based actors to respond meaningfully to these shared threats, fostering hope and action at the grassroots level.
NCA’s Strategic Approach: Save Lives, Build Resilience, Seek Justice
Save Lives: Community Resilience and Disaster Risk Management
NCA has several tools for intervention to save lives. One of them is to support communities to prepare and respond to impacts of climate change, environmental degradation, and natural and man-made disasters.
- Community-based disaster risk management and reduction and supporting communities to build up preparedness and resilience
- Initiating and supporting community mitigation and/or adaptation measures against climate change, environmental degradation, hazards, and risks
- Increasing resilience of essential infrastructure and services (e.g., water supply, services and sanitation; electricity; telecommunications; health care facilities; schools; etc.) towards climate and environmental risks and hazards.
Seek Justice: Faith-based Climate and Environment Advocacy
NCA supports communities to sustainably use, manage and restore natural resources – both to reduce negative impacts on communities environmental degradation and climate change and to protect essential ecosystem services, biodiversity, and ecological health.
- Supporting faith actors to formulate their climate action agendas and liaise with decision makers and key stakeholders on local, national, and international levels.
- Theological engagement with faith institutions and religious leaders.
- Mobilisation of faith leaders and faith communities to respect and follow the theological rationale for “integrity of creation” and government policy for forest protection, natural resource management, and climate action.
- Increasing community awareness of environmental rights and the legal obligations of governments and other actors/stakeholders.
- Lobbying authorities and service providers to supply energy to communities not served.
- Advocacy towards duty-bearers for climate action and environmental protection at local, national, regional, and global levels, including ecumenical climate justice advocacy.
Equitable Partnerships for Locally Led Development
NCA networks and collaborates with local faith-based organisations, civil society actors and private sector stakeholders, international companies and Academia.
Through these partnerships, NCA aims to support and inspire civil society and faith-based actors to become strong advocates for climate resilience and climate justice. We engage in networks such as ACT Alliance, including the Climate Justice Reference Group and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Community of Practice. NCA is also a member of the Anticipation Hub, a global platform for knowledge exchange and advocacy on anticipatory action. As a signatory to the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organisations, NCA is committed to collective and coordinated action on the climate and environmental crises.
Related case
It originates in sacred forests that are distributed in human-dominated landscapes. These forest areas are sometimes referred to as church forests. The church forests comprise local, regional and global biodiversity hotspots, and are important conservation areas for portions of remaining endemic biodiversity, including a proportion of endangered plant species.
Church forests also provide important ecosystem services including shade, recreation and spiritual value, pollinators, honey, carbon sequestration and others. Because the ground on which the forest lays is holy, the forests are treated as sacred, with the trees symbolizing angels guarding the church. At the community level, each church operates largely autonomously with its own contextually defined approach to forest management. In some cases, church forest governance has involved the construction of walls clearly demarcating forest boundaries. In other areas, the church pays guards to patrol forests to detect and punish trespassers.
The church forests constitute values and opportunities, not only as existing hotspots, but also as incubators for improved ecosystem management beyond the church boundaries and for contributing to surrounding communities’ livelihoods and resilience to climate change. The project aims to establish a national orthodox climate platform and support the Orthodox Church to become a climate ambassador advocating for forest protection. It will work closely with orthodox leaders – and eventually other faith leaders - to raise awareness and knowledge about climate change and the value of sound forest management, including economic values that may incentivize protection.
By raising society’s knowledge and interest in contributing to sustainable forest and land management, the project will support national efforts to combat forest and land degradation and provide support to the implementation of national REDD+ strategies, the Ethiopian Climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy and the African Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100).
At local level, the project will be anchored in the congregations, ensuring ownership, long-term impacts and change. The church forests will be the platforms for engagement and collaboration.
The ambition is that the initiative can serve as a basis for interfaith collaboration with other faith communities in Ethiopia and that the orthodox climate platform will be turned into an interfaith platform. The hope is to be able to scale up the project to an Ethiopian interfaith initiative in the second phase of the initiative, in collaboration with the Interfaith Council, MEFCC’s Forestry Sector Development Program (FSDP)/ Forest Transformation Unit (FSTU) and other relevant actors.
At global level, the project will be linked to the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative, which was launched in Oslo in 2017 and aims to unite religious leaders from various faiths to make protection of rainforests an ethical priority for the world’s faith communities. The Ethiopian initiative may serve as an example for other faith-based initiatives globally and will contribute to the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative through participation by Ethiopian Orthodox Church leaders and by sharing lessons. The aim is to contribute to the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative’s ambition to develop capacity among religious and faith communities in order to advocate for policies, regulations, and practices that protect forests and the rights of indigenous peoples and forest communities.
In 2024, NCA’s Climate and Environmental Stewardship (CES) Strategic Initiative was implemented in Angola, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Pakistan.
Why:
The initiative in Guatemala aimed to strengthen climate resilience and support indigenous communities. It sought to improve livelihoods, protect natural resources, and reduce forced migration. Faith leaders played a key role in mobilising participation and promoting environmental and indigenous rights.
What:
The project monitored 2,200 hectares of forest and planted 40,000 trees. New plants were cultivated in nurseries. Indigenous families received training in sustainable forest management and agroecology. They adopted water harvesting systems, organic fertilisers, and climate-adapted potato seeds. Greenhouses and water reservoirs were built. A youth-led bio factory was upgraded. Agroecological markets and a virtual platform were launched. A community tourism network created 77 local jobs and addressed forest, water, and territorial rights.
How:
Faith leaders facilitated community engagement and organised dialogues on rights and sustainability. Local families implemented practical solutions to boost productivity and reduce costs. The project supported energy autonomy in San Pablo, Tacaná, and established ecological parks. These parks created jobs and helped reduce forced migration.