Alliance of Religions and Conservation

The Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) was a United Kingdom-based international organisation established in 1995 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It operated at the intersection of faith, environmental conservation and sustainable development, working as a secular coordinating body rather than as a religious institution or a conventional environmental campaigning organisation. Its central purpose was to help major religions translate their teachings, traditions and community structures into practical programmes for protecting the natural environment. ARC's approach was based on the idea that religious communities could make a distinctive contribution to conservation because they possessed extensive networks of congregations, schools, landowners, charities and local leaders. Instead of imposing a single environmental doctrine, the organisation sought to support initiatives developed from each faith's own theological principles, rituals and institutional capacities. This model enabled environmental action to be framed in terms that were meaningful to the participating communities, including stewardship, responsibility toward creation, sustainable use of natural resources and intergenerational duties. A major turning point came in 2007, when ARC began working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on a programme intended to mobilise the world's major faiths around climate change and the wider natural environment. The partnership promoted faith-based Long Term Commitments for a Living Planet. These commitments were designed as substantial, multiyear pledges by religious organisations to change practices, educate communities and support conservation, with the broader objective of achieving generational change rather than isolated short-term projects. Many participating religions presented their commitments at an ARC-UNDP conference held at Windsor Castle in November 2009. The meeting was attended by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Prince Philip, and more than 30 commitments were announced. The initiative was presented by UNDP Assistant Secretary-General Olav Kjørven as a potentially very significant civil-society mobilisation on climate change because of the scale and reach of religious communities. ARC also supported regionally focused work. In September 2012, 27 faith groups from sub-Saharan Africa presented their own Long Term Commitments for a Living Planet at an ARC-organised meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. This demonstrated the organisation's effort to move beyond global declarations and encourage regionally grounded commitments involving African religious institutions and communities. Martin Palmer served as ARC's Secretary General and was a prominent figure in its programme development and public representation. ARC announced that it would close in June 2019. Because it was an organisation rather than a consumer-facing commercial brand, its principal offerings consisted of convening, coordination, programme development and support for faith-based environmental action rather than physical products or paid consumer services. Its legacy lies chiefly in the attempt to connect religious authority and community networks with conservation and climate initiatives through locally adapted, long-term commitments.

The Alliance of Religions and Conservation was founded in the United Kingdom in 1995 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was created to support cooperation between religious communities and the conservation movement. ARC was secular in institutional character, but its work depended on engaging directly with the world's major religions and allowing each tradition to define environmental action through its own teachings, beliefs and practices. The organisation's underlying theory was that religious communities could provide an unusually broad social base for conservation. Faith groups often manage or influence schools, charities, places of worship, agricultural land and community networks, while religious leaders can shape values and public behaviour across generations. ARC therefore focused on helping these communities develop their own environmental programmes rather than treating them simply as audiences for externally designed campaigns. In 2007, ARC entered into a significant partnership with the United Nations Development Programme. The joint programme sought to address global warming and environmental degradation through faith-based Long Term Commitments for a Living Planet. These were intended to be durable pledges covering areas such as education, institutional practice, community mobilisation and conservation. The emphasis on long-term commitments reflected ARC's interest in generational change and in embedding environmental responsibility in the ordinary life of religious institutions. The partnership reached a prominent international stage at an ARC-UNDP conference at Windsor Castle in November 2009. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Prince Philip attended the event. More than 30 commitments were presented by participating religious organisations. The initiative attracted attention because it attempted to connect global environmental policy with the reach and legitimacy of religious communities. UNDP Assistant Secretary-General Olav Kjørven described the potential scale of the collaboration as exceptionally large in the context of civil-society action on climate change. ARC later supported regionally focused implementation. In September 2012, it organised a meeting in Nairobi at which 27 faith groups from sub-Saharan Africa presented their Long Term Commitments for a Living Planet. The African meeting showed how the model could be adapted to specific regional networks instead of remaining limited to high-level international declarations. Martin Palmer served as Secretary General and was associated with ARC's coordination and public-facing work. Over the course of its existence, ARC functioned primarily as a convener, broker and programme-support organisation. It did not operate as a consumer brand and had no documented product portfolio in the usual commercial sense. Its outputs were partnerships, commitments, conferences, guidance and environmental programmes developed with religious organisations. ARC announced its closure in June 2019. The organisation is therefore defunct, although the concept it promoted—using religious teachings and institutions to support conservation and climate action—formed the basis of its historical contribution to environmental cooperation.

• 2019

  ARC announces closure

  [1]Alliance of Religions and Conservationen.wikipedia.org

  The organisation announced that it would close in June 2019.

• 2012

  African faith groups present commitments in Nairobi

  [1]Alliance of Religions and Conservationen.wikipedia.org

  Twenty-seven faith groups from sub-Saharan Africa presented environmental commitments at an ARC-organised Nairobi meeting.

• 2009

  Windsor Castle commitments

  [1]Alliance of Religions and Conservationen.wikipedia.org

  More than 30 faith-based Long Term Commitments for a Living Planet were presented at an ARC-UNDP conference attended by Ban Ki-moon and Prince Philip.

• 2007

  ARC begins partnership with UNDP

  [1]Alliance of Religions and Conservationen.wikipedia.org

  ARC and the United Nations Development Programme launched a programme focused on mobilising major faiths around climate change and the natural environment.

• 1995

  Alliance founded

  [1]Alliance of Religions and Conservationen.wikipedia.org

  Prince Philip established ARC in the United Kingdom to help major religions develop conservation and environmental programmes grounded in their own traditions.

A secular facilitator and programme coordinator helping religious communities turn their own teachings, institutions and networks into long-term environmental and conservation action.

• 2012Sub-Saharan Africa Long Term Commitments for a Living Planet

  Sub-Saharan Africa

  ARC organised a Nairobi meeting for faith groups from sub-Saharan Africa to present locally relevant long-term environmental commitments.

  Outcome. Twenty-seven faith groups presented commitments at the September 2012 meeting.

  Source
• 2007Long Term Commitments for a Living Planet

  International

  ARC and UNDP developed a faith-based framework encouraging religious organisations to make durable commitments on climate change, conservation and environmental stewardship, using their own beliefs and institutional networks.

  Outcome. The programme led to more than 30 commitments being presented at the 2009 Windsor Castle conference.

  Source

• 2019

  Close the organisationOther

  Background

  After more than two decades of environmental and faith-sector coordination, ARC reviewed its future as an organisation.

  Action taken

  ARC announced that it would close in June 2019.

  Aftermath

  ARC ceased to operate as an independent organisation; no successor structure is identified in the supplied sources.

  Source

• 2007

  Partner with UNDP on faith-based climate actionStrategy

  Background

  ARC sought to expand religious participation in responses to global warming and environmental degradation.

  Action taken

  It joined with the United Nations Development Programme to develop Long Term Commitments for a Living Planet with major faiths.

  Aftermath

  The partnership produced an international programme and more than 30 commitments presented in 2009.

  Source

1. 1Alliance of Religions and Conservationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Alliance of Religions and Conservation official websitearcworld.org