Environmentalism in the Arab World: Public Opinion and the Role of Religion

• In Event: Political Attitudes and Public Opinion in the Middle East

Abstract

Few areas of the world will be impacted by climate change as much as Arab countries. The effects will be felt in the context of profound political crises associated with entrenched authoritarianism. This paper uses recent public opinion data from the region to test several individual-level associations between religion and environmental politics. First, religion has long formed a central part of the critique or legitimation of those political orders that must now navigate the effects of climate change. We thus examine whether the political dimension of religion also extends to environmental politics. Second, some religious discourses see protecting the natural environment as a religious duty to safeguard God’s creation. The question thus arises whether individual religiosity and religious identity correlate with concerns about climate change or environmental degradation. Third, in many Western countries, concern for the environment is commonly associated with value change toward self-expression and freedom values and less concern for (organized) religion. We therefore test whether, in contrast to the previous assumption, weaker religiosity and weaker religious identities might, like in parts of the Western world, be more aligned with concerns for the environment in the Arab world as well.

Author

• Lars G. Berger, Federal University of Administrative Sciences