A coalition of scientists and religious leaders, often at odds, have shelved their differences in pursuit of a common goal to protect the world from global warming, pollution, species extinction and other “reckless human activities.”

ABC News reports that scientists and evangelical Christian leaders have formed an alliance called Saving the Creation and declared that “We believe the protection of life on Earth is a profound moral imperative.”

The coalition includes the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 45,000 churches in the US. A year ago, the NAE refused to endorse an initiative signed by 86 religious leaders that called global warming a real and urgent moral problem.

Now, an NAE official said the board unanimously approved the new alliance between science and religion, and that he’s also seeing more concern about climate and environmental issues coming from the local church level.