Why more faith actors should engage in loss and damage policy influencing

I have seen my father going to the same mosque year after year. I never saw him going to a different mosque if not travelling. This reminds me of my childhood reading – a mosque is not only a place of worship but also a community hub offering spaces for education, social gatherings and even dispute resolution. In the flood-impacted communities in Bangladesh, where I come from, mosques remain under water for weeks, months and are even washed away by river erosion. A mosque, 30 businesses, 100 homes were engulfed by the mighty river Padma in the district of Shariatpur reported this month.

This specific type of loss and damage (L&D) that goes beyond material possessions directly impacts communities that include people of faith or faith actors. In southern Bangladesh, dozens of historical mosques including a World Heritage Site, public buildings, tombs and graveyards are getting damaged by hurricanes, storm surges and salinity intrusion. In the flood prone areas in Bangladesh, families are forced to float the dead body of their loved ones by compromising religious practices during prolonged floods. Letting go of near and dear one’s body like this or losing burial sites to river erosion makes it impossible for family and friends to pay a visit to the final resting place of deceased souls. These are irreversible losses and cannot be substituted.

Religious, sacred and ritual sites are lost worldwide. Religious ceremonies and practices are being disrupted and compromised more in the climate vulnerable countries in the Global South. For example, i.e., structures of dozens of churches in Budalang’i have been weakened due to rising sea levels and unpredictable rainfalls in the western Kenya – some are more than 50 years old. The Budalang’I community is trying to respond to this crisis locally by organising their prayers in a thatched shelter and under tree shades now.

Such intangible and difficult to quantify L&D, often referred to as non-economic loss and damage (NELD), has remained under-reported historically, and isn’t fully integrated in the total climate cost. One study shows that the projected economic cost of loss and damage has been estimated to be USD 400 billion annually by 2030 in developing countries alone and by another, it will be 1 to 1.8 trillion USD by 2050 in a year – noting it doesn’t include NELD, i.e., loss of land, cultural heritage, practices, social and psychological impacts etc. While all countries are suffering, human impacts are more acute in the Global South.  

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NELD struggles to be recognised and acted upon

In absence of adequate documentation and reporting of NELD, it is very challenging to respond to this kind irreversible impacts nationally and internationally.  While faith actors, including faith-based organisations (FBOs), can support communities in creating more understanding of NELD and ways of recording and sharing the information with wider audiences through their grassroots reach and engagement, they are also in a position to influence NELD policies internationally. The latter deserves significant and greater attention as the exploration of anchoring NELD in climate polices is at the nascent stage within the UNFCCC.

Historically, L&D is a contested issue in climate talks due to historical responsibility of the developed countries and they often resist in accepting their financial responsibility of addressing climate change impacts in the Global South. For example, the first ever L&D Fund within UNFCCC has pledged only USD 788.80 million as of June 2025 which is only 0.04 – 0.2% of finance needs per year. This Fund runs on voluntary contributions and developed countries aren’t mandated to provide support to developing countries – it took 30 years of advocacy to achieve this outcome.

Not only that the recent adopted international climate finance target, New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG)(2025-2035) doesn’t have explicit reference to L&D making it much more difficult to support people and communities’ intangible losses that may have impacts on their wellbeing, identity, social cohesion and ultimately, their ability to sustain lives the way they would want.

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High stakes for people of faith

The expectation from FBOs to engage on L&D and in particularly NELD policy issues within the UNFCCC mainly derives from how they have been framing climate change – often through lens of morality and justice. Faith actors including FBOs, locally-led and/or internationally supported, are already working with their national governments and negotiating blocs trying to shape stronger climate policies home and abroad. However, currently, only about 3 percent of registered NGOs accredited to UNFCCC climate conferences are overtly religious in nature. To voice the needs and priorities of L&D communities in the Global South, not only more FBOs need to engage in policy influencing but also a coordinated approach of faith actors needs to be established and facilitated including FBOs, young people, faith leaders to leverage the strengths of people of faith worldwide.

Another reason for expecting from faith actors at climate talks, perhaps the most influencing one so far, could stem from their significant role in influencing climate negotiations, particularly towards the Paris Agreement. Pope Francis’s advocacy efforts culminated in an unanimous decision to adopt the Agreement. His Laudato Si brought together FBOs globally and united them in putting pressure on political leadership to take responsibility towards COP21. Islamic leaders made a call to1.6 billion Muslims around the world and urged governments to work towards an effective Paris Agreement. Faith groups related to Buddhism and Hinduism called for ‘meaningful action’. This can be seen as an example of multi-faith actors standing in their own beliefs while engaging with others for a common interest – caring for people and their natural environment in the changing climate context.

Currently, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group worldwide – representing 84% of the world’s population and this is expected to grow.  More places of worship, faith institutions, religious sites and practices will be at risk as climate impact increases and intensifies. Therefore, stakes will be higher too if not acted upon at scale and pace right now.