Geographer Mike Hulme notes the absence of religion in analyses of how human societies must learn to address the climate emergency (Hulme, 2022). Hulme argues that the role of mythos will be central to any human ecological evolution- it will propel change. If religion, or the mythic, has some part to play, what is the role of religious education? How can teachers explore the combination of fear, shame, innovation and hope that characterises our current state? This is the focus of my paper. Firstly, we must at all costs avoid greenwash. I propose that religious educators must not imply that, for example, because of Buddha- nature, or the Atman, Buddhists and Hindus revere all life, or a medieval Jewish mystical view of God’s presence on earth lets transcendent monotheism off the hook (Armstrong, 2022: p. 48- 49, 52). All evidence points to the opposite. We have a store of wisdom in the world’s religious traditions which do seem to honour the earth, but cherishing the natural world is very much not the norm. In presenting case studies of religious groups’ responses, we give the false impression that the crises are in hand. Teachers might feel ill-equipped to bring such stark uncertainty into the classroom. To explore this I will assess the potential of a pedagogy of vulnerability (Zeymblas, 2024) as a tool for teachers in leading their pupils to encounter such territory. Ajay Singh Chaudhary describes the ‘extractive circuit’ of late-stage neoliberalism, which is already well beyond the planet’s capacity to bear (Singh Chaudhary, 2024). Singh Chaudhary offers case studies, such as the extraction of cobalt for smart phones in DRC, which could be taught. Pupils can consider the worldviews that lie behind the extractive circuit. Robert Bellah asks if we stand at the brink of a new axial age (Bellah, 2011). Pupils could find out about the ethical transformations of the first axial civilisations and consider for themselves what a second axial transformation would look like. In England, increasing consensus in the value of a religion and worldviews approach means exploring worldviews such as capitalism and consumerism is a real possibility (Pett, 2024). Instead of greenwashing the planetary emergency with case studies of small-scale religious responses, I propose that exploring non-religious global worldviews is more useful in assisting young people to make sense of how humanity has brought our planet to this point, and our next steps.

Armstrong, K. (2022) Sacred Nature: How we can recover our bond with the natural world, Vintage Bellah, R. N. (2011) Religion in Human Evolution: from the Paleolithic to the Axial Age, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press., Cambridge, Massachusetts Hulme, M. (2022) Climate Change, Routledge, London Pett, S (2024) ‘Developing a Religion and Worldviews Approach in Religious Education: A Handbook for curriculum writers’ published by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, London Singh Chaudhary, A. (2024) The Exhausted of the Earth: Politics in a Burning World, Repeater Zembylas, M. (2024) ‘Navigating the Affective Aspects of Vulnerability in Our Times: Faithful Affective Witnessing as Pedagogical Theory and Practice’, Pedagogy, culture & society, ahead-of-print, pp. 1–17. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2021.2018723.