Abstract

With a call by international bodies and organisations for peace and a sustainable planet earth, the UN has advised member nations to achieve 17 SDGs by year 2030. In ensuring the achievement of the 17 SDGs within the stipulated time period, the UN adopted some mechanisms like voluntary national reviews, policy coherence, global accounting profession, fourth industrial revolution roadmaps, and ICT infrastructure towards achieving United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, despite the relevance of these mechanisms, there is still misgiving about their efficacy in the actual achievement of the UN SDGs, given the positive association between religion and sustainability of planet earth. This presupposes that the higher the religious activity, the higher the likelihood of environmental protection by humans, and invariably the more likelihood for UN member nations to achieve the UN 2030 Agenda. Therefore, this conceptual paper explored how religious belief in form of environmental stewardship, serves as a mechanism for achieving the UN SDGs. Adopting a descriptive overview approach, a review of extant literature is conducted on religion and sustainable development through the lens of Spiritual Ecology and Eco-Theology theories. Building upon existing empirical evidence, this study established a conceptual framework illustrating that achievement of the UN SDGs is positively influenced by religious beliefs. The findings suggest that religion significantly aligns human behavior with the way humans take care of the earth.

Keywords

Religious belief, sustainable development goals, spiritual ecology theory, eco-theology theory, living earth

File: 1788355834_3._WASMSR_Vol_11_1_.pdf

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