Professor Harvey Whitehouse will present a keynote lecture entitled “Climate Crisis: Responses for religions in Aotearoa” at St Andrew’s Church, Wellington Central on 8 April 2025, to an audience of forty religious leaders from a wide range of faith traditions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Pacific Island indigenous traditions.  Centred around an Aotearoa korero/talanoa and the interface between faith and secularity, science and scholarship and the global climate crisis, Professor Whitehouse is currently exploring some of the many associated issues with religious leaders and scholars in several countries, including New Zealand. After his keynote address there will be a Q&A and a series of small group discussions to explore the following questions:

 “What scriptural support do religions provide for action on environmental challenges?”;What scriptural support do religions provide for action on environmental challenges?”; “What forms of religious leadership are capable of mobilizing action on the climate crisis, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss?”; “To what extent can perspectives from religion impact global audiences (reaching across borders, and rather than merely preaching to the converted?)”; “How do religious and spiritual understandings of the environment differ in their content and potential impact from secular ones.”