Climate change as a multi-layered crisis for humanity 1

Abstract

If the word “crisis” implies a turning point, a time of danger or suspense, a time for appropriate decisions (from the Greek krino = to decide), then climate change unmistakably presents such a crisis. However, it is not immediately clear in what sense it poses such a crisis. This contribution unpacks some of the many layers of this crisis. In the process it acknowledges why climate change requires a multi-disciplinary approach. The direction of the analysis is to support the observation in ecumenical discourse on climate change that it presents a cultural, a moral, and indeed a spiritual crisis. If so, why exactly is this the case? In what sense is it a crisis? It intersperses the author’s observations with quotations from a document produced by the South African Council of Churches (SACC) entitled Climate Change – A Challenge to the Churches in South Africa (2009).