📅 9–10 October 2025

📍 In de Driehoek, Utrecht, the Netherlands

📝 Registration opens on 1 June

International Conference

This conference focuses on flows and differences in religious vocabularies used by Dutch and international groups that are engaged in climate change discourse. The title evokes different perspectives that are present in the current debate. The phrase ‘No Plan(et) B’ emphasizes the critical urgency of addressing climate change. It suggests there is no alternative Earth or ‘Plan B’ for humanity if we fail to act and thus signals a call to action, underscoring the finite resources and fragile state of our planet. The inclusion of ‘Paradise’ in the title refers to another perspective in connecting the topic of climate change with religious and spiritual ideas and appeals to a moral or theological framework for environmental stewardship. Preserving Earth as a paradise is understood in this case as a responsibility entrusted to humanity.

By juxtaposing “No Plan(et) B” (a message of urgency or despair) with “Paradise” (a term associated with hope or idealism), the title explores the tension between crisis and the potential for redemption or transformation. The conference thus invites discussion on how religious beliefs, values, or institutions influence climate action, environmental ethics, and perceptions of sustainability. The subtitle points at the geographical and cultural context of the topic under discussion, in connecting the Dutch context to global perspectives. It highlights both regional and international dimensions of how religiosity and spirituality interact with climate change narratives. Taken together, the title suggests an exploration of how religious worldviews shape responses to climate change, with a specific focus on the Netherlands as a case study while drawing broader implications.

The program of the conference consists of:

• four key-note presentations by international experts in the field (see below),

• presentations of research results from the Research Project on Religion and Climate Change in the Netherlands, located at Tilburg University and funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO),

• four panel sessions on related topics, including
- Digitalizing Islamic Environmental Narratives;
- Religion-Inspired Climate Skepticism;
- Christian Vocabularies in Climate Change Discourses;

- Earth Imagery in Times of Climate Change;

- Sacred Landscapes.

Dr. Joram Tarusarira is Associate Professor in Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding at the University of Groningen and does research on the role of religion in conflicts related to climate change in Kenya and the Netherlands.

Stephanie Kaza is Professor Emerita of Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont (USA) and the author or editor of several books on Buddhist environmentalism, among them Green Buddhism: Practice and Compassionate Action in Uncertain Times (2019).

Dr. Celia Deane-Drummond is Senior Research Fellow in Theology and Director of the Laudato Si Research Institute at Campion Hall (Oxford University) as well as Honorary Visiting Professor in Theology and Science at the University of Durham (UK). Her publications include Theological Ethics Through a Multispecies Lens (2019).

Prof. Dr. Arthur Petersen is Professor of Science, Technology and Public Policy at the University College London, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Dutch Delta Commissioner, and Editor-in-Chief of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. His publications include Climate, God and Uncertainty: A transcendental naturalistic approach beyond Bruno Latour (2023).