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Abstract

French

This article explores the role of religion in local energy transition processes. By combining insights from (a) sustainability studies and (b) academic contributions on religion and sustainability, a theoretical approach for describing the role of religion in local energy transitions is developed. Religion is conceived of as a subsystem among other local subsystems that potentially contribute via their competences to energy transition processes. Three potential functions of religion are identified: (1) campaigning and intermediation in the public sphere; (2) ‘materialization’ of transitions in the form of participation in projects related to sustainable transitions; (3) dissemination of values and worldviews that empower environmental attitudes and action. These functions are studied in the case of the energy transition in Emden, a city in north-western Germany. Although religion attends, to some degree, each of the three functions, it does not assume a dominant role relative to other local subsystems. Actors from other social subsystems appear to take over these functions in a more efficient way. Consequently, in this highly environmentally active region, there are few indicators of a specific function of religion. These results shed a critical light on the previously held assumption that religion has a crucial impact on sustainability transitions.

Keywords

climate change ecology Germany regional innovation systems religion

Introduction

Western societies are currently struggling to evolve and implement more sustainable forms of living. These ambitions are also reflected in increasing academic efforts to understand and inform these transitional processes. To this end, a particular strand of research addressing sustainability transitions has lately emerged in the social sciences. Here, sustainability transitions are understood as a ‘long-term, multi-dimensional, and fundamental transformation processes through which established socio-technical systems shift to more sustainable modes of production and consumption’ (Markard et al., 2012: 956). Different theoretical approaches – for example, the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) (Geels, 2004; Verbong and Geels, 2007) and the Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) approach (Bergek et al., 2008; Carlsson and Stankiewicz, 1991; Hekkert et al., 2007; Weber and Rohracher, 2012) – have been developed to comprehend the dynamics of sustainability transitions, particularly energy transitions. Academic contributions to this major topic have mostly concentrated on social evolution and the diffusion of particular technologies (e.g. solar or wind power), rather than taking a holistic perspective on the transformation processes in specific regions and localities. Consequently, the interplay between actors on the concrete level of regions and cities has received very limited attention in the transitions literature (Coenen et al., 2012; Hodson and Marvin, 2009; Späth and Rohracher, 2012). Moreover, sustainability transition research, thus far, has not managed to put forward a broader picture of transition processes that includes actors and social spheres that are not immediately involved in the transformation processes, but may nonetheless play an important role. One of these spheres is religion. Although scholars have studied different types of actor, such as municipalities, businesses, intermediaries, politicians, public utilities and research institutes, the potential roles of religious actors have remained unexplored.

Unconnected to the aforementioned research strand, another academic field has emerged that underscores the role of religion in sustainability transitions: the field of ‘religion and ecology’. The contributions to this debate are often related to religious studies and tend to highlight the advantages of religion for promoting sustainability transitions (Clugston and Holt, 2012; Kimmins, 1993; Gottlieb, 2008; Rolston, 2006b; Rasmussen, 2011; Tucker, 2008). They suggest different channels through which religion can influence sustainability transitions: directly, in the form of activities and public statements by religious organizations (Christiansen, 2011; Harper, 2011); or indirectly, through faith traditions that provide moral guidance, foster hope and encourage environmental action (Gottlieb, 2008; Laurendeau, 2011). Many of these contributions take a normative stance and describe religion as indispensable in promoting sustainability transitions. This stance may inhibit more critical explorations that take into account its limitations. Nevertheless, this strand is complemented by some empirical studies in the social sciences that focus on the US and highlight – often with divergent results – the varying impacts of religion on environmental attitudes (Barker and Bearce, 2013; Djupe and Hunt, 2009; Djupe and Gwiasda, 2010; Greeley, 1993; Guth et al., 1995; Sherkat and Ellison, 2007; Wardekker et al., 2009).

So far, both academic fields – sustainability transitions research and studies on the relationship of religion and sustainability – have developed independently of each other. Research on sustainability transitions disregards the religious factor, while contributions highlighting the potential role of religion barely refer to the current state of sustainability transitions research. Moreover, there is a general lack of empirical insight into the relationship between religion and sustainability transformation processes.

A widely discussed subfield of sustainability transitions is energy transitions. Although national and international configurations (i.e. national funding schemes) play an important role in low carbon transitions, many transformation processes occur on the level of small-scale regions. Cities and rural areas seem to constitute a hotbed and experimental environment for these change processes (Bulkeley and Kern, 2006; Hodson and Marvin, 2010; 2012; Maassen, 2012; McCauley and Stephens, 2012; Schönberger, 2013; Späth and Rohracher, 2012). Local actors such as politicians, entrepreneurs, energy suppliers and scientists, and environmental initiatives originate and foster changes in the local energy configuration. Aside from these actors, religious communities may contribute to these processes by using their public voice and organizational resources. However, given the lack of empirical research, it is still unclear what role religion assumes in local energy transitions. This paper addresses this gap by interrogating in what way religion can contribute to local energy transitions. This question is tackled (a) theoretically, by elaborating upon an approach for describing the potential roles of religion in energy transitions and (b) empirically, by exploring these roles in a case study on the energy transition in Emden, a city in north-western Germany. In this way, this article aims to provide some preliminary findings on the potential role of religion in local energy transition processes.

The paper is structured as follows: The first section combines both aforementioned debates to develop an approach for describing the potential roles of religion in local energy transitions. Based on this, the following section studies these roles in the case of Emden’s energy transition. The conclusion discusses the results and points to the consequences for research on religion and energy transitions.

Uncovering the potential roles of religion in sustainability transitions

Although energy transitions have become an increasingly prominent topic in the social sciences, so far, we lack an approach for addressing the potential roles of religion in these change processes. The following paragraphs develop some preliminary concepts regarding these roles by combining insights from both sustainability transitions research and studies on the relationship of religion and sustainability. In accordance with the research focus, the emphasis is on energy transition processes in small regions.

Referring to the research on sustainability transitions, energy transitions can be defined as complex socio-technological transformation processes leading to more sustainable patterns of energy production, supply and consumption (Bridge et al., 2013; Cherp et al., 2011; Coutard and Rutherford, 2010; Grubler, 2012; Verbong and Geels, 2007). These transitions imply changes in the technological setting as well as in the social and cultural domain (e.g. changes in consumption patterns). Moreover, they usually involve different social spheres and types of actor (Geels et al., 2008). Although energy transitions are supposed to lead ultimately to more sustainable energy settings, the transformation processes are likely to unfold non-linearly (Markard et al., 2012): they may evolve through numerous loosely coupled processes originating from different actors and social spheres.

So far, academic contributions have concentrated on the emergence and diffusion of particular technologies on the national level, whereas the interplay between various types of actor and change process at the concrete level of small regions has received only very limited attention (Hodson and Marvin, 2009). As a result of this academic focus, transition literature today lacks an analytical approach that grasps transformation processes on the regional and local levels. Therefore, this study draws upon the concept of regional innovation systems (RIS) to apprehend change processes in small socio-geographic spaces.¹ The RIS concept was originally developed to explain intense innovation activities in particular regions by placing a holistic view on regional production structures (Cooke et al., 1997; Doloreux, 2002). Innovation activities are conceived of as the outcome of interactive processes between actors and institutions from different social subsystems. On the basis of this RIS approach, we can conceive socio-technological transformation processes in small regions as the outcome of complex interactions of different social subsystems (Huber et al., 2013). Such a perspective considers numerous social subsystems (Heidenreich et al., 2012; Kuhlmann, 2001; Mattes, 2010): scientific, industrial, political, financial (venture capital and banks), intermediaries (networking organizations such as the local chamber of commerce), municipal administration and civil society. Each of these subsystems consists of collective and individual actors (organizations and individuals), their activities and their relationships.

The subsystems, their functions and their relationships are at the centre of the analysis. Each subsystem contributes with its competences to the transitional process and thereby assumes a specific social function. In the case of energy transitions, the scientific subsystem might, for instance, evolve knowledge and create new technological solutions, while the political subsystem would employ its political power to support these new solutions with funding schemes and favourable bills. As energy transitions imply changes that span different social spheres, they rely on functional contributions from various subsystems and are likely to unfold in the course of the interaction of these subsystems. Thus, local energy transitions are unlikely to be the product of the activity of just one subsystem: they take place during complex interactions between various subsystems, complementing each other (Huber et al., 2013). However, depending on the locality, specific subsystems may assume more dominant roles, while others are less visible or even hamper transformation processes.

In addition to the aforementioned subsystems, religion may assume a function in local energy transitions. Studies on religion and sustainability provide examples of the different ways in which religion influences sustainability transitions, which can be systematized in terms of three potential functions: (1) campaigning and intermediation in the public sphere; (2) ‘materialization’ of transitions in the form of participation in projects related to sustainability transitions; and (3) dissemination of values and worldviews that support environmentally aware attitudes and actions.

The first function relates to the public sphere: religious actors can have a strong presence in and impact on the public spheres of modern Western societies (Casanova, 1994; Habermas, 2008; Willaime, 2008). Thus, they may shape debates on sustainability through public statements and activities (Johnston, 2010). In the US, religious organizations – particularly evangelical churches – increasingly communicate their positions regarding climate change within the public sphere (Dewitt, 2006; Djupe and Gwiasda, 2010; McCammack, 2007; Nagle, 2008; Wardekker et al., 2009). However, in many cases, climate change and low carbon transition compete with other issues, such as poverty reduction, for pole position on the public agenda of religious actors. Therefore, the official statements of evangelicals are not unanimous: while some actors call for a proactive policy to combat climate change, other congregations assume more reticent positions, fearing the negative impact on emerging economies. The general influence of religious statements on climate change is reported to be high in the US, where contributions by churches are amply covered in media debates (Wardekker et al., 2009). It remains to be studied whether the European media gives similar exposure to religious statements concerning climate change (Köhrsen, 2012). Aside from media statements, religious organizations may further contribute to public debates on sustainability transitions by bringing together different actors in round tables and debate forums.

The second function refers to the ‘materialization’ of transition processes: it contends that religious actors can actively ‘materialize’ sustainability transitions in the form of participation in projects related to these transformation processes (Gottlieb, 2006; Harper, 2011). For instance, church headquarters launch campaigns encouraging local congregations to reduce their CO₂ emissions. Accordingly, congregations create local environmental groups that organize energy-efficient refurbishments of church buildings or the installation of solar panels on church roofs. As these activities are restricted to the given congregation, their impact does not extend to the wider transformation process. However, a religious organization might also participate in the design of municipal strategies to reduce CO₂ emissions or launch large-scale projects in close collaboration with actors from other subsystems – for example, by supplying church land to wind farm projects or participating in solar power initiatives.

The third function comprises the dissemination of religious values and worldviews that foster environment-conscious attitudes and behaviour. Religion orientates human behaviour towards the environment, particularly through its ethical teachings. Thus, several scholars portray religion as the social sphere that can provide an ethical framework within which to address the environmental crisis – a task that can hardly be fulfilled by other social spheres (Gardner, 2006; Gottlieb, 2008; Rolston, 2006a; Tucker, 2006). For instance, Laurendeau contends that in the US, religious leaders rather than scientists could act as messengers for the energy transition by promoting an ‘ethic of responsibility’ that advances changes in lifestyles (Laurendeau, 2011). Other scholars highlight patterns in different faith traditions that match the ideals of sustainability (i.e. care for the natural world, justice and asceticism) (Rasmussen, 2011).² Religion is expected to encourage people to promote environmentally friendly behaviour and policies. The dissemination of these values and worldviews occurs through both organizational and non-organizational forms of religion. Religious organizations fulfil the function, for instance, by transmitting pro-ecological values in church services and Sunday schools (Clugston and Holt, 2012; Djupe and Hunt, 2009; Gottlieb, 2008), where they are often embedded in a wider discourse on the ‘preservation of the creation’; non-organizational forms of value transmission include the subliminal proliferation of religious values and worldviews in the course of religious socialization.

As this systematization refers only to the most discussed roles of religion in sustainability transitions, it does not claim to be exhaustive.³ Many contributions to the debate focus on the third function, even considering it the unique role of religion in sustainability transitions. The underlying assumption is that religion conveys moral values that inspire ‘eco-friendly’ attitudes and that cannot be imparted by other subsystems (Rolston, 2006a). This hypothesis is studied, together with the other potential functions of religion, in the following empirical case study.

Empirical insights: Case study on the energy transition in the city of Emden

The case study draws on empirical insights arising from a research project into local energy transition processes in the region of East Frisia in north-western Germany. Due to its high involvement in the energy transition, the city of Emden, with around 52,000 inhabitants, was chosen as the subject of an in-depth exploration. Emden is often described as a pioneering city in the energy transition (Klagge and Brocke, 2012); as such it can be regarded as a special test case for the potential role of religion in local energy transitions. In total, 37 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with leading actors from different subsystems were conducted in the city. The sampling strategy consisted in selecting those actors from each subsystem that were most involved in the local energy transition. In most cases, interviews took around 1.5 hours and included questions about their contributions to the energy transition and networking with other actors. Apart from the interviews, reports (e.g. on the climate strategies of specific actors), web pages and local press statements were analysed. The broad empirical approach of embracing various types of actor allows for the identification of the functions that different subsystems assume in the local energy transition and the determination of whether, and in what way, religion plays a role in this process. The focus of the empirical research was organized forms of religion (local congregations).

The city of Emden started to experiment with renewable energy comparatively early. As long ago as 1987, the municipal utility company (Stadtwerke) – Emden’s main energy supplier – erected the first windmill, to power the local water works. In the early 1990s, Stadtwerke reoriented its business towards renewable energy and energy efficiency. In the following years, it constructed its first wind farm and implemented a number of programmes encouraging its clients to save energy. Besides Stadtwerke, actors from other subsystems have contributed their specific competences to the local energy transition: politicians have promoted the local energy transition by their decisions; local businesses have carried out low-carbon projects, such as the construction of wind and solar farms and the implementation of energy-saving measures. Their projects have been supported by the city’s administration, which has handled applications related to low-carbon projects in a favourable way and has also implemented its own transition projects (e.g. energy-efficient refurbishments of city districts, promotion of the use of bicycles). In 2003, Emden joined the European Energy Award programme and in 2008 the Climate Alliance. In the course of these projects, the city set its climate targets: a 10% reduction in CO₂ emissions every five years and a 50% cut in total CO₂ emissions by 2030, compared with 1990 (Stadt Emden, 2010).

Different subsystems contribute – directly or indirectly – to the local energy transition and have specific functions: the city administration acts as a public administrator, organizer and implementer; the economic subsystem as an implementer of innovative projects; the scientific subsystem as a developer of knowledge and new solutions; the political subsystem as a creator of a favorable socio-political context; intermediaries as networking actors; the financial subsystem as a provider of financial resources; and civil society as a moral driver and watchdog. The local energy transition evolves in the interplay of these subsystems. One example is the creation of Stadtwerke’s first wind farm on the site of a big car factory: local banks provided loans for its construction; the city administration handled the application process in a supportive manner; politicians in the city council supported the scheme politically; the car factory granted access to its site; and the public utility company planned and oversaw the construction.

In terms of the religious subsystem, there are three major denominations: the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church and the Reformed Church. The two Protestant denominations represent the bulk of the population: according to the 2011 census, 66.3% of the population belong in almost equal parts to the Lutheran and Reformed Church, whereas Catholics constitute an 8.8% minority (Statistische Ämter, 2013). In interviews, local representatives of the three denominations lamented the decrease in some forms of church religiosity – particularly baptisms and funerals – but stated that religion remained more central than in many other German regions. Furthermore, they claimed that their religious organizations endorse the ‘preservation of the creation’ and identify themselves with sustainability transitions in general and energy transitions in particular. This raises the question of how this stance leads to functional contributions to energy transitions. Each of the three previously mentioned functions – public campaigning and intermediation, materialization of transitions, and dissemination of values/worldviews – is, to some degree, tackled by religious organizations in the case of Emden’s energy transition.

With regard to public campaigning and intermediation, local churches rarely make open statements on public topics. Nonetheless, because of local media coverage of church activities, churches enjoy some presence in the public sphere. Most of their events fall within the spectrum of three subjects: social justice, peace, and preservation of the creation. The Lutheran and Catholic congregations place an emphasis on social justice, while the Reformed Church leans towards the topic of peace in the local public sphere – for instance, by organizing an annual Emder peace forum. While the topics of social justice and peace are strongly promoted by local churches, however, no congregation seeks to promote the preservation of the creation in public. Thus, topics such as deprivation, poverty reduction and peace are by far more prevalent than climate change and energy transition in the public communications and events of local churches. Among the very rare church statements on these subjects in the local press is a pronouncement by the President of the Reformed Church, who welcomed the German nuclear phase-out (Emder Zeitung, 2011). On another occasion, the Catholic Church supported a petition for the energy transition proposed by the Green Party, but added the requirement that it must be bearable for the economically challenged.

Unlike religious actors, actors from subsystems such as civil society, politics and industry show a strong presence in public debates on subjects related to the energy transition. In particular, the municipal utility company, an energy consulting business, the Greenpeace group, the Citizen Initiative for Clean Air (Bürgerinitiative Saubere Luft) and the Green Party act as public communicators, facilitators and watchdogs on topics surrounding the energy transition and climate change in general. Remarkably, a pastor stated that many of these actors had been invited to church services to present their projects and campaign for support among church members. Thus, it would seem that local churches tend to lend their public voice to other actors, rather than assuming an active public stance on low-carbon transition.

With regard to the ‘materialization’ of the energy transition, the activities of local religious organizations are usually inwardly oriented. For instance, congregations improve the energy efficiency of their buildings or place solar panels on their roofs, although so far only a very small proportion of local church buildings are equipped with solar panels. Some congregations participate in energy-saving programmes launched by their mother churches, which involve an ecological certification process – again with little success. One example is the project ‘Green Cock’ (‘Grüner Hahn’) of the Reformed Church, which involves a certification process based on data collection and the implementation of concrete measures to improve the sustainability record of the given congregation. To date, only one congregation in Emden has decided to participate in this project. During its starting phase, the ex-CEO of the public utility company – who is often portrayed as a pioneer of Emden’s energy transition – was invited to a church service and gave a presentation that persuaded several members to join the ‘Green Cock’ group. However, when it was faced with proposing and implementing concrete long- and mid-term measures, the group dissolved. Since other issues are regarded as more vital, the group has yet to be resuscitated. The Lutheran Church in Emden also recently joined a project in which each congregation must appoint an ‘energy commissioner’ (Energiebeauftragter), who is to be professionally trained and be responsible for controlling the energy consumption of church buildings. However, with limited resources at their disposal, the likelihood of materializing low-carbon initiatives is slim. Even congregations that demonstrate an above-average interest in environmental protection prefer to use their scarce resources on social outreach projects (e.g. meal programmes). Consequently, church involvement in wider-ranging and outwardly oriented low-carbon projects could not be determined. This was confirmed by the interviews with secular actors, who did not mention religious actors in connection with the local energy transition. One leading figure contended that, for local churches, the energy transition plays no role. The city administration, industry and, to some degree, civil society, have a significantly higher stake in materializing the energy transition through the implementation of low-carbon projects.

Finally, the dissemination of religious values and worldviews that foster environment-conscious attitudes is thought to assume a central role in sustainability transition processes (Gardner, 2006; Gottlieb, 2008; Rolston, 2006a; Tucker, 2006). However, assessing the moral function of religion is difficult, since religious values act as internal, often subliminal, motivation. Representatives from religious organizations stated that values related to sustainability transition are promoted in church services and church education facilities. For instance, in the case of the Lutheran Church, confirmation classes and Christian kindergartens teach the sustainable use of resources using learning material from the Stadtwerke and by organizing visits to the Ökowerk, a local ecology centre that promotes environmental protection and works as a non-profit citizens’ association. Moreover, the preservation of the creation is regularly tackled in churches services along with the two other major subjects (peace and social justice). Nevertheless, it remains unclear to what degree these religious discourses guide the behaviour of local actors. Non-religious interviewees mainly listed rational motives for their participation in the local energy transition, such as economic profit and public recognition. In the rare cases where they described the protection of the environment as their moral responsibility, no particular religious worldviews or values or any kind of personal religious background appeared to be their motivation. Only on one occasion did a secular actor, who had founded a renewable energy business, establish some form of relationship to his religious background. He mentioned that his commitment to environmental protection arose out of church group activity and was encouraged by his religious values. Hence, there are only a few indications that religious worldviews and values have an impact on the transition activities of non-religious actors. Furthermore, aside from religion, there are other actors – mostly from the citizen subsystem – who have an interest in fostering pro-environmental attitudes. One example is the project E-Spas, a primary school energy education programme in which instructors not only create an understanding of how to save energy, but also engender an emotional concern and a feeling of righteousness about saving energy among the school children. This project, as well as other activities undertaken by civil society actors, illustrates the fact that religion does not fulfil an exclusive function for advancing pro-environmental values and worldviews among the population.

To summarize these findings, religious organizations do not assume a dominant role relative to other local subsystems in any of the three functions. One pastor described the role of religion as that of a follower rather than a pioneer in the energy transition; another pastor made the analogy of jumping onto a moving train. There are two factors explaining their minor role in local energy transition processes. First, in churches, ‘sustainability’ competes with other topics for limited financial, time and personnel resources. Congregations favour projects related to social justice and sometimes peace over those related to the preservation of the creation. This preference may be related to the second factor: that sustainability, and in particular the energy transition, is already well established in Emden and has become a competitive arena. Some actors, such as the public utility company, have already managed to brand themselves as pioneers of Emden’s energy transition, while others are striving to attain a similar position. In this highly competitive field, it would be extremely difficult for religious actors to establish themselves as facilitators of the local energy transition. Accordingly, as they stated, there is no need for them to engage more dynamically in the energy transition; other local actors have taken over this role. As church resources are limited and other actors highly committed, religious organizations tend to delegate their potential functions in the energy transition to these actors.

Conclusion

The present study has combined insights from sustainability studies and academic contributions on religion and sustainability to tackle the role of religion in energy transitions. Thus, it has taken a functional perspective: religion is conceived of as one subsystem among a variety of social subsystems that potentially contribute to the transformation processes. Three potential functions of religion have been determined: (1) campaigning and intermediation in the public sphere; (2) ‘materialization’ of transitions; and (3) dissemination of values and worldviews that foster environment-conscious attitudes and actions. These have been studied in the city of Emden, a pioneering region in terms of energy transition. Regarding the first function, religion is barely visible in local debates on climate change, sustainability or energy transition. While religious actors in the US increasingly shape public debates on these topics (Dewitt, 2006; Djupe and Gwiasda, 2010; McCammack, 2007; Nagle, 2008; Wardekker et al., 2009), in the specific case of Emden, there is little evidence of religion having such a public role. Instead, non-religious actors adopt this role and are sometimes even encouraged by religious actors to do so. In the second function, there is little evidence of wide-ranging efforts among religious organizations to ‘materialize’ the local energy transition, since the churches prefer to allocate their limited resources to projects that promote social justice. Although religious actors do, to some extent, fulfil the third function of value dissemination, it remains unclear to what degree these values influence the attitudes of local actors. When indicating a moral motivation for their involvement in the energy transition, ‘secular’ interviewees do not usually refer to religious values or worldviews. Nevertheless, there may be subliminal religious influences on pro-environment attitudes that are empirically difficult to determine.

As a whole, the results shed a critical light on the assumption that religion has a crucial impact on sustainability transitions. In a highly environmentally active region, there are few indications that religion has a specific function. The results may be related to the peculiarities of the studied region. In particular, the high commitment of other subsystems may render the need for a strong religious involvement obsolete. Instead of involving themselves in the local transition processes, religious organizations tend to delegate their potential roles to other actors.

This empirical study has two principal limitations: first, it has explored only one small region. In other regions with lower general commitment to energy transitions, religion may assume a more pronounced role, perhaps acting as a facilitator and promoter of low-carbon transition processes. Second, the emphasis was on organized forms of religiosity. Accordingly, the potential religious dimension of values and concepts associated with sustainability transitions remains unexplored (Johnston, 2010: 177; Leahy, 2013; Rudiak-Gould, 2013; Skrimshire, 2013).

More research – employing different methods (e.g. ethnographic research) – is necessary to unfold the empirical role of religion in these transformation processes. Research on the relationship between religion and sustainability can contribute to a more encompassing and inclusive understanding of sustainability transitions, and may reveal new possibilities for advancing these transformation processes (Tikjoeb, 2004; Tucker, 2008). However, it remains to be explored whether religion does in fact form a relevant functional subsystem for sustainability transition processes or whether other subsystems fulfil the potential functions of religion in a more effective manner.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the support of Jannika Mattes and helpful remarks from Michelle Witen, the anonymous reviewers, and the members of the research group of the Center for Religion, Economy and Politics, Regina Betz, Manfred Brocker, Mario Kaiser, Patrick Kupper, Harald Matern, Georg Pfleiderer, Ekaterina Svetlova, who commented on a previous version of the article.

Funding

I would like to thank ADEME for the financial funding of this research as part of the project COMPOSITE.

Notes

Author biography

Jens KOEHRSEN is an assistant professor at the Centre for Religion, Economy and Politics and holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Bielefeld and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. His research interests span Latin American religion and the relationship between religion and ecology.

Address: Faculty of Theology, Nadelberg 10, 4051 Basel, University of Basel, Switzerland

Email: jens.koehrsen@unibas.ch

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Does religion promote environmental sustainability? – Exploring the role of religion in local energy transitions

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Uncovering the potential roles of religion in sustainability transitions

Empirical insights: Case study on the energy transition in the city of Emden

Conclusion

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

Funding

Notes

Author biography

References