Facing A Growing Climate Crisis, India’s Christians Lead the ‘Green Revolution’
Across India’s sprawling landscapes, Christian organizations are stepping up with urgency and creativity to confront the mounting challenges posed by climate change.
Their work spans everything from solar-powered schools and rural farming projects to national climate declarations and interfaith advocacy, positioning faith-based groups at the forefront of India’s green revolution.
India’s Catholic and Jesuit educational institutions have become unlikely climate champions. In the western provinces, Jesuit Father Frazer Mascarenhas coordinates the Ecology Platform for the Jesuit West Zone: “About 60 institutions have achieved zero electricity bills for quite some time and demonstrated that it is a viable project to save the only home we have — the fragile Earth,” Mascarenhas explained in a recent interview.
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Vinayalaya, a Jesuit-run center in Mumbai, is now fully powered by solar energy. The project aims to solarize all 110 Jesuit schools, seminaries and residences in four provinces by 2027.
“The decision was taken during a meeting when Jesuit leaders resolved to lead by example rather than just speaking about the need to change lifestyles to help save the environment,” Mascarenhas said. “Within one and a half years, all four provinces together have achieved 60 percent of the target, and the remaining 40 percent will follow before June 2027.”
The initiative doesn’t stop with solar. In Gujarat, Jesuits maintain four model farms that train hundreds of farmers in organic techniques, making rural faith communities both sustainable and resilient.
In Kolkata, Catholic parishes such as Loreto Entally School and St. Lawrence High School have harnessed eco-clubs, water conservation, and green landscaping to transform their campuses into urban oases. Meanwhile, diocesan social service societies and Caritas India projects distribute disaster relief, rebuild infrastructure after cyclones, and expand eco-housing programs to help those most affected by climate events.
At the heart of such work is a pastoral vision rooted in Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’, where he wrote: “The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change. I urgently appeal … for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.”
In Kerala, the Syro-Malabar Church has continued to push parishes to adopt “safe environment” policies, host tree-planting drives, and organize educational nature retreats, integrating environmental action into spiritual practice. Northeast bishops, like Bishop James Thoppil of Kohima, have called climate change an “issue of justice, dignity, and care for our common home,” urging action that protects both people and nature.
The Mahakumbh climate conclave in Prayagraj in 2025 was a watershed moment for faith-based climate engagement, drawing pledges from over thirty religious organizations and state governments. The resulting declaration charged religious leaders to “inspire action, influence behavior and bring about transformational change,” with Christian groups central to the conversations.
Notably, the Uttar Pradesh government committed to funding solar installations, waste management, and green zones in faith centers, with large Christian networks pledging educational outreach and advocacy.
“The message from this holy Maha Kumbh is that we need to channel our faith to conserve our environment,” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath declared at the conclave.
Climate activism and future vision
Grassroots climate activism is integral: church-run mission farms, like those maintained by Jesuits and Catholic orders, now train thousands of farmers, students, and parish youths in composting, sustainable agriculture, and tree planting.
Archana Soreng, a young Catholic climate activist from Odisha and member of the U.N.’s Youth Advisory Group, speaks directly to the link between faith and advocacy: “Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si is a precious source of inspiration for the commitment in defense of Mother Earth and in the fight against the climate crisis,” she said. “The commandment of Jesus to love our neighbor includes not only human beings, but also nature, which is our common home. So we have the responsibility to take care of them for our existence and subsistence”.
Catholic bishops of the Global South were even more direct in a statement this past July: “The climate emergency is an existential issue of justice, dignity and care for our common home,” they wrote. “The Church will not remain silent…We will continue to raise our voice alongside science, civil society, and the most vulnerable, with truth and consistency, until justice is done.”
Christian climate initiatives increasingly work in tandem with Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic leaders. From Mahakumbh to schoolyard reforestation, collaboration for climate justice is seen not only as a practical solution but as a witness to shared values.
As Mascarenhas said, “It is one way to show that individuals and families can take action to lessen the effects of climate change, cut down on carbon emissions, and care for our common home for future generations.”
Rishabh Jain is an independent journalist based in Delhi. Follow him at @ThisIsRjain.