Climate Crisis and Religions/Spirituality

Dear Colleagues,

The climate crisis is no longer a predicted future but is already an ongoing present in the Anthropocene era. As of this July, the UN said the era of global boiling was here. Witnessing the negative effects of global warming and environmental degradation, it is the right time to consider what kind of roles religious scholars could contribute to examining the impacts of the climate crisis on the present and future generations. Alternatively, it is an issue of intergenerational ethics. The younger generations will definitely face and need to deal with the influence of the climate crisis, the cause of which is not theirs. The unborn generation will also have to face the harsh reality of the climate crisis.  As the climate crisis, which is caused by human activities, is expected to influence all corners of the earth, it is also the right time to examine what questions and lessons are addressed in considering the implications of biodiversity degradation both on the land and in the ocean. Thus, various issues regarding the climate crisis need to be explored and examined from the perspective of religious studies. 

This Special Issue calls for contributions by scholars of religions from various fields who are engaged with the climate crisis in novel manners, thus contributing to the extant scholarly literature on religion and environment, religion/spirituality and nature, and religions/spirituality and sustainability. Philosophical, ethical, and anthropological inquiries from more scientific and human-scientific perspectives will be considered, and young scholars are welcome to contribute their papers to this Special Issue.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Religions editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editor for the purposes of ensuring a proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.  

Prof. Dr. Takeshi Kimura
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• religion
• spirituality
• climate crisis
• environment
• sustainability
• intergenerational ethics