Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, has praised the “obedient, questioning, faithfulness” of the Duke of Edinburgh. Good questions lead to an effective diagnosis; this results in a beneficent outcome. He had a journeying, active, faith and is said to have owned more books on religion than on the navy.
His faithful questioning led him to challenge long ago the then existing orthodoxy of silence in society and, sadly, the church about climate change. The Duke said “If you believe in God, then you should feel a responsibility to care for his creation”. Far ahead of his time, to initiate action he believed that you don’t just need data, you need to touch people’s minds and hearts: arts and religion do this. He had it right: for committed action on global heating, people must feel in their hearts that they need to act.
In 1988 he wrote the book “Down to Earth” about the need for action to preserve creation. With Michael Mann, he wrote “Survival or Extinction – a Christian Attitude to the Environment”. Founding his actions on his belief, writings and researches, he chaired regular weekends at St George’s House, Windsor Castle, to discuss environmental issues. Prince Philip initiated in 1995 the foundation of ARC, the Alliance of Religions and Conservation. For over 23 years this brought together proponents of many faiths, including Christians, Sikhs, and Muslims in Indonesia and Daoists in China. ARC particularly aimed to benefit the young. As shown in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme Prince Philip had a particular care for those under 18. Latterly ‘Faith Invest’ was founded: he emphasised that the huge financial resources of religions need to be invested in projects which benefit the environment, not destroy it.
We remember the Duke of Edinburgh as a founding grandfather of what was called the environment movement and the father of the Prince of Wales who wears the paternal green mantle. Boris Johnson summed him up well: “He was an environmentalist and champion of the natural world long before it was fashionable.”