The events of this summer have finally changed awareness as to the potentially calamitous nature of climate change. British towns under water; British people without drinking water; half of Southern Europe roasting, many of its forests aflame. And that’s without factoring in the devastating floods of the southern hemisphere, with, on the horizon, hurricanes threatening.

But, sadly, changed awareness does not automatically lead to effective change: part of the tragic aspect of human nature is to recognise the truth but to balk at the obvious consequences for altered patterns of living. Cutting carbon emissions involves concepts such as simplicity, austerity, even sacrifice – concepts counter-cultural to a society that privileges excessive consumerism and celebrity lifestyles. Yet here’s where faith communities must take a lead, drawing on ancient traditions of disciplinary practice and ascetic living. If this sounds uninviting, let us put it in the context of the recovery of prophecy. Forget the stereotype of the bearded, angry figure denouncing society. Focus instead on groups and communities who embody an alternative way forward. Prophetic communities seek a more profound approach than, for example, carbon offsetting. Their ultimate aim is the transformation of society – all resistance and protest is for this deeper goal. There is more to it: prophetic communities seek to rebuild relationships with scientists, recognising that the historical divorce between religion and science has been damaging to both. Religion has tended to speak in abstractions, to be defensive, even negative, about scientific discovery, so that faith leaders – until very recently – have failed to give the necessary leadership in the context of the ecology crisis. Even worse, they have frequently delivered a privatising message, so that adherents have not acquired the tools to link cherished beliefs with public life. Science, on the other hand (with some exceptions), has been encouraged to develop instrumentally, with limited ethical concerns, frequently allowing the genie out of the bottle without the calculation of consequences.

Because religions also draw on traditions of compassion, they offer resources to rebuild and cultivate the broken links with communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. NGOs, women’s ecumenical groups, the Make Poverty History campaign and eco-feminist groups have been forging these links for some time. Awareness of how our lifestyles are creating death-dealing conditions for thousands can harness the energies of communities to act to transform relationships between rich and poor countries, and human and nonhuman forms of life.

This action is undergirded by the need to change ways of thinking, specifically to conceive of time differently. We need to think beyond “time between elections”, the time span of global capitalism, or even the time of our own life span. Healing the ravages of climate change needs people to think across several generations.

This brings me a full circle to our cultural resistance to simplicity and austerity. It may seem farfetched in these days when we are remembering the birth of India as an independent nation, to invoke the figure of Gandhi. He, a loyal Hindu, was fully aware of the potential of all faiths for creating a just society. But he was also aware of the need to live nonviolently, in a lifestyle of simplicity and austerity, for the wider vision of flourishing offered to the most vulnerable people of the earth. He would recall us to our religious roots today to discover ways our faith stories reveal nonviolent practices of living with the Earth, ultimately far more productive of happiness and wellbeing than the way humanity currently transcends nature’s limits.

Mary Grey is Professorial Research Fellow, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham. Her latest book is To Rwanda and Back: Liberation Spirituality and Reconciliation (Darton, Longman and Todd, £10.95)