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To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we must cut greenhouse gas emissions significantly by 2030 if we’re going to reach net zero by 2050; at the same time, we must prioritize those most impacted by climate disruption and least resourced to adapt and respond to a changing climate, says Rachel Myslivy, the Unitarian Universalist Association’s climate justice strategist.
Rachel Myslivy, Climate Justice Strategist for the UUA's Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team
The UUA’s Green Sanctuary 2030 program provides structure, resources, and support for congregations to prioritize justice in their climate actions and decarbonization goals.
Myslivy explains how the program is evolving to become more accessible for congregations and more responsive to climate injustice.
- Q: How does the Green Sanctuary 2030 program guide congregations to engage in ambitious climate justice and sustainability efforts?
A: The program, sometimes abbreviated as GS2030, offers UUs a flexible, manageable, and impactful process to transform our congregations through climate justice. Teams engage in intersectional actions aligned with our four Essentials of Climate Action: Justice, Mitigation, Congregational Transformation, and Community Resilience.
You can think about our four essentials like this: How do we reduce the pollution that drives climate change (Mitigation)? How do we nourish and strengthen our communities (Community Resilience) in ways that honor the inherent worth and dignity of the interconnected web of existence while dismantling racism and systemic oppression (Justice)? How do we do that while improving the ways we relate to each other and embody change in our congregations (Congregational Transformation)?
There’s more to the program, but that’s the heart of it!
- Q: Green Sanctuary 2030 has evolved. Can you tell us about that journey and where it’s led us now?
"Climate justice is an intersectional justice issue, and we must understand that climate change has the same root causes as other systems of oppression we fight so hard against," says UUA Climate Strategist Rachel Myslivy.
- A: We’re celebrating Green Sanctuary’s thirty-fifth year. When it began in 1989, the program’s goal was to make the UU Seventh Principle’s focus on respect for the interdependent web of all existence more central to members, congregations, and the association.
- It was ahead of its time and was one of the first—if not the first— faith-based environmental programs available. Other denominations, like the Disciples of Christ, have turned to the Green Sanctuary program when developing their own versions.
- In 2020, Rev. Karen Brammer, longtime Green Sanctuary manager, debuted Green Sanctuary 2030: Mobilizing for Climate Justice. It calls on congregations to prioritize justice in our efforts to rapidly reduce polluting emissions and avoid the worst impacts of climate disruption. At present, the program is again undergoing revisions to make it even more accessible and manageable for congregations.
Climate justice is an intersectional justice issue, and we must understand that climate change has the same root causes as other systems of oppression we fight so hard against.
The Green Sanctuary 2030 process provides a comprehensive framework for congregations that combines technological solutions to address the climate crisis with the moral imperative to reduce harm and cultivate communities of care.
- Q: Why should congregations consider striving for Green Sanctuary 2030 accreditation?
- A: We no longer use the term “accreditation.” Many of our congregations were “accredited” as far back as the early 2000s—over twenty years ago.
- The demands of the Green Sanctuary program, while impactful without a question, also unintentionally led to burnout on our teams. One congregation explained to me that they worked for years to get their accreditation, and—once accredited—their climate work all but stopped: “It was like we got our degree and didn’t work in the field.”
- I took to heart the feedback I heard from congregations about the onerous paperwork and the demands of the program. As one person told me, “I can’t wait to get this burden off my back so I can do some real work.”
That’s not at all how I want people to feel about what is a truly impactful and faithful approach to climate justice. I promised myself that I’d overhaul the process to make it more manageable for teams while maintaining the integrity of the program.
While we continue to honor the work of all congregations previously accredited, the urgency of the climate crisis requires ongoing action that continuously deepens the commitment to climate justice and builds community resilience. We have adopted the big-picture, visionary approach we need to overcome the challenges before us and deepen our faithful commitment. Every year, we want UUs to get better and better at this work.
As part of the UU Climate Justice Revival, we will be calling on all congregations to renew their engagement in the updated Green Sanctuary process. We now recognize congregations once they have done significant, impactful, and meaningful work on each of our four Essentials for Climate Action. UU congregations can—and should—receive recognition every year. - Q: What are some ways congregations can become more adaptable and responsive to climate change?
- A: First, all congregations should join the Green Sanctuary 2030 community! We host monthly meetings for shared learning and mutual support for all UUs who are transforming our congregations and communities through climate justice.
- In addition to our Green Sanctuary 2030 work, Side With Love’s Create Climate Justice organizes UUs to realize a world without fossil fuels where clean energy is a human right, and all communities thrive.
- Through spiritual grounding and nourishment, political education, skill building, leadership development, and mobilization, we facilitate shared learning, mutual support, and collective action. We support UUs to reject extractive systems of harm as we take optimistic, faith-rooted climate action.
- Q: The first-ever UU Climate Justice Revival will take place in September. How did that idea come about, and what are the goals?
- A: “Reimagine Together: From an Extractive Age to a New Era” was conceived as a means of breaking down the artificial silos that separate our climate work from other justice priorities.
- Too often, congregational justice teams see climate as apart from—and sometimes in competition with—racial justice, for example, when this couldn’t be further from the truth. As I mentioned previously, climate justice is an intersectional justice issue.
During the Revival, congregations will engage in dialogues designed to build capacity, nourish relationships, make connections, imagine a thriving future, and chart a course to that future together. Participating congregations will engage in activities for all ages, including multigenerational conversations, worship, and an advocacy action.
- Q: News about the worsening climate crisis can be disheartening. Why should UUs advocate for climate justice despite that?
- A: When we shift to fighting climate change with technological solutions and by nurturing strong and resilient communities, beautiful things happen.
- We talk about “transforming our communities through climate justice” because integrating a justice focus into our climate work really is transformative. The more we understand that climate disruption emerges from systemic oppression, we expand our ability to hold the complexity of the problems. When we expand our understanding of the problem, we exponentially increase the possible solutions.
By broadening our understanding and framing about responding to climate change, we can create a flourishing world where all communities thrive.