Stewardship and Environmental Responsibility

Caring for a world we share

Environmental responsibility means taking responsibility for our effects on the natural world. It includes preventing pollution, conserving resources and protecting habitats. Stewardship emphasises care: people should look after the world rather than treat it as something they can exploit without limits.

Sustainability adds a concern for the future. Meeting our needs today should not prevent future generations from meeting theirs. For example, using less water and repairing possessions rather than continually replacing them can reduce pressure on resources. The question is not simply whether we can use something, but whether our way of using it can continue without causing lasting harm.

Sikhs and Humanists can agree that environmental care matters while giving different reasons for that responsibility.

Sikh teachings: creation deserves respect

For Sikhs, the universe exists through God and is sustained by God. Hukam means God's command or divine order. The Guru Granth Sahib, Sikh scripture and the living Guru, provides a foundation for understanding people's relationship with creation.

Guru Granth Sahib 1037 teaches:

‘By His Command, the world was formed.’

It also says that the heavens, this world and the nether regions were created by God's command, and that ‘His Power supports them’. Creation is therefore not merely a collection of resources for human convenience. Respect for its divine origin and continuing dependence on God can motivate Sikhs to protect it.

Guru Granth Sahib 21 describes the vastness of creation, stating that ‘there is only One Universe’ and that a person would exhaust themselves before completing an account of it. It concludes: ‘O Nanak, call Him Great! He Himself knows Himself.’ The emphasis is on God's greatness and the limits of human understanding, rather than a scientific count of worlds. This can encourage humility: human beings should not assume that everything exists solely for their benefit.

These passages provide a religious basis for environmental care. Applying them to conserving water or protecting forests involves connecting their teachings about creation with present-day responsibilities.

From Sikh belief to environmental action

Seva, or selfless service, connects belief with practical help. Caring for the environment can be understood as service because clean water, healthy soil and thriving habitats support other beings. The Sikh ideal of sarbat da bhalaa, the welfare of all, also encourages concern beyond personal advantage or one's own community.

Contentment and sharing resources can support sustainable living. If people consume only to satisfy ever-increasing wants, they place greater demands on the natural world. A less wasteful lifestyle can express gratitude for creation while leaving resources available for others.

A concrete example is the Guru Granth Sahib Baagh, a botanical garden inaugurated in 2021 by EcoSikh working with the local organisation PETALS at a gurdwara in Patto Hira Singh, Punjab. It contains more than 58 species of trees mentioned in the Guru Granth Sahib, with about 6,000 trees and shrubs across five acres. It connects Sikh scripture with practical conservation. Such initiatives show how religious teachings can influence community action, although beliefs alone do not guarantee that every follower will live sustainably.

Humanist Climate Action: responsibility without belief in God

Humanists do not need belief in a creator to recognise environmental duties. Their reasoning begins with evidence and concern for wellbeing: humans are part of the natural world, depend on it and can cause harm through their choices. Protecting it matters for both current and future generations.

Humanist Climate Action is a volunteer-led network of Humanists UK members and supporters. It promotes low-carbon, ethical and sustainable living, guided by the best available scientific evidence. Its aims include encouraging greener lifestyles, campaigning for environmentally friendly policies and promoting rational discussion about environmental problems and solutions.

Its activities include encouraging tree planting, asking people to write to their MPs about climate action and supporting The Climate Coalition. These combine individual choices with collective pressure for change. They are aims and activities, not proof that the environmental crisis has been solved.

Atheism means not believing in God; it does not by itself provide a complete environmental ethic. Humanist Climate Action offers a specific example of a positive non-religious case for responsibility.

Global citizenship and judging the arguments

Global citizenship means recognising responsibilities beyond national borders. Environmental harm does not necessarily remain where it begins, and choices made now affect people who are not yet born. Sikh concern for the welfare of all and Humanist concern for fellow beings can therefore both support international cooperation.

One argument is that religious belief provides a powerful motivation: protecting creation becomes part of serving God and others. A response is that people who do not share that belief still need reasons they can accept. Humanist arguments based on evidence, interdependence and wellbeing provide such reasons.

Another debate concerns individual action. Reducing waste expresses responsibility and can contribute to wider change. However, personal choices alone cannot replace changes to policies and infrastructure. Humanist Climate Action's combination of greener living and campaigning recognises this distinction; Sikh community service can also turn individual commitment into collective action.

A justified conclusion could be that belief in God is not necessary for environmental responsibility, but can strongly motivate it. Sikh and Humanist foundations differ, yet they can cooperate on shared goals. The strongest response combines personal responsibility, community involvement and evidence-based wider action, while considering people's present needs as well as those of future generations.