GES Rhode Island IPL

Global Ethical Stocktake Dialogue

Brown University, Providence RI, USA, 23 October 2025
organized by RI Interfaith Power and Light

Half of the participants of the dialogue were students. The rest were professors and community members of various faiths. The summary below reflects the contributions of 15 participants.

Question #1
Why do we continue with production and consumption models that harm the most vulnerable and are not aligned with the 1.5ºC Mission?

• People who benefit from the damage brought by climate change have power and resist change — they want to keep that power. The goal must be to disrupt this scenario.

• We don’t change our ways because of “inertia.”
◦ This includes changing our buying habits to bring change to the supply stream.

• It takes money to change and there is often an ignorance about the value of changing our status quo.
◦ This is true for the business sector and individuals.

• People don’t understand the severity of the threat. It’s easier for people to see the direct link between smoking and lung cancer than to see how climate change already impacts them now, and it is even more difficult to visualize the “world to come” with more catastrophic climate impacts.

• There has been fifty years of anti-scientific misinformation.

• Education is needed. People need to be regularly confronted with the reality of the existential threat of climate change.

• Obstacle: Polarization. People need to listen and learn from each other.

• Some “churches align themselves with old-guard power regimes” to support patriarchy and oligarchy.

• Too much information without offering hope causes inaction. Climate advocacy “is not my passion” because it’s often too much “in your face” as a problem that I can’t do a lot to solve.

• People are acting based on their needs or sometimes just perceived needs. One of them is material consumption. We need to listen to them and address their underlying needs.

• What’s needed: courage. The courage to change.

• We need to focus on the positives of changing our status quo—don’t just focus on the negative.

• A spiritual perspective provides HOPE and courage to see the reality of the state of the world.

• We need faith inspired morality and ethics—but it must be informed by sound information based on science.

• There is a lack of cooperation and solidarity.

Question #2
What ideas and values could inspire to mobilize more people, leaders, corporations, companies, and nations to combating the climate crisis?

• We need better communication about climate change that openly states its threat and at the same time provides a vision for a better world – climate action will lead to a happier society.

• We can overcome denialism by bringing climate change close to people by making a connection between the things they care about and climate change, for example birds, coffee, or skiing.

• Fear can lead to action by being clear on how climate change impacts can hurt us. However, to move forward, we need to help people understand, not just out of fear. Fear and oppression are not conducive to positive change.

• Fear is a motivator, but it can’t be just fear. Hope is needed. We need examples of hope. (examples such as the Clean Water Act, Ozone regulation with the Montreal Protocol, etc.) Fear and hope are not exclusive. Together they can be powerful motivators for climate action.

• We need to change communication patterns and listen to people and hear their personal needs. The portal to people is the heart, not scientific facts. We can find communality which will help people’s innate compassion to come through.

• We must build capacity for cooperation and solidarity. We must all strive to be our best selves.

• Education is needed, but it must be charitable.

• Social costs of speaking out (or fear of social costs) can keep us from positive engagement. We need the courage and confidence inspired by faith.

• Sometimes our discussions don’t result in immediate change of another’s view; there is contemplation and pre-contemplation where our words are being considered by the other, in the case of pre-contemplation, without the person realizing it.

• We need to build trust and better human relationships. People need to be helped in understanding each other.

• An important value is gender equality. Women are generally suffering more from climate change impacts. Moreover they are powerful agents of change and can contribute essential qualities such as nurturing and caring.

• Sharing personal experiences helps people break down barriers and learn from each other via understanding.

• Tribalism and dividing people into groups and an “us and them” attitude is harmful. We need a humble attitude and realize that we humans are all in this together.

• We need a holistic view and integrate climate action with other Sustainable Development Goals.

Question #3
What traditions, histories, or practices (cultural, spiritual) from your community teach us to live in greater harmony with nature? How can we mobilize more people?

• What experiences can help? Gardening. Hiking. Being in nature!

• Groups like Catholic Rural Life engage eco- and climate issues through faith based experiences, mostly as farmers.

• Saul Griffen podcast on getting coal miners to drive electric vehicles—this is a good example of trust/relationships leading to shared and new experiences, which can change perceptions.

• Eco tourism helps bridge generational divides.

• Ultimately what we need is a spiritual revolution—one informed by knowledge but rooted in understanding humanity as one with each other and with nature.
◦ This will help change values.
◦ This will help us find who we were meant to be.

• Actions must be informed by ethics.

• And yet there is a difference between changing ethics and changing behavior.

• We need to help people see the benefits of eco/climate-awareness and lifestyle changes.
◦ The benefits to you and to others. (Note that smoking cessation research shows that people are more likely to make behavioral changes based on perceived benefits to loved ones.)