Muslims urged to do more to tackle global climate change

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 10 Apr 10;

With a population of 1.4 billion and control the largest oil reserves, Muslims can play a crucial role in the addressing of climate change, an expert told a conference on Friday.

Sead Elgezawi from the World Islamic Call Society said Muslims could take part in a green revolution to replenish nature and educate people on the importance of protecting the environment.

Addressing the international conference on Muslim action on climate change, he said many verses in the Koran promoted an environmentally friendly lifestyle.

“The majority of Muslims are unaware or uninterested in environmental issues even though millions of them worldwide suffer every year from a lack of natural resources,” Elgezawi said.

He said Muslims should get involved and work with Western countries that had invested significantly into research.

“We have to join hands and work together for the sake of humanity such that we leave this world in better shape than we found it for the next generation. There is no alternative,” he said.

The two-day conference, attended by 200 participants from 15 countries, will attempt to formulate concrete steps Muslims can take to tackle climate change.

The first Muslim climate conference held in Kuwait City in 2008 declared a seven-year action plan.

The action plan included initiatives to set up green haj, environmentally friendly mosques and publications of the Koran using paper from sustainable forests.

The action plan being drafted envisions that future haj would be free of plastic bottles.

Environmental expert Emil Salim questioned why many Muslim-majority countries had bad environmental records and were impoverished despite huge oil reserves. Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are home to more than 40 percent of the world’s Muslims. None of these countries are net exporters of oil.

He said Muslim countries also needed a paradigm shift in development by promoting environmental aspects rather than focusing on boosting economic growth.

Emil, who is also advisor to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on environmental and sustainable development, said the surface air temperature in Indonesia increased by 0.5 degree Celsius during the 20th century and predicted an increase by 2 degree Celsius by 2070.

He said climate change was also responsible for raising sea levels, leading to frequent floods and erosion of the coastline.

Founding director of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Science, Fazlun Khalid, said Muslims could support government policies on climate change through real action.

“[Climate change] is the only competition where everyone can win,” he said.

Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said the conference should serve as a milestone to increase cooperation among Muslim-majority countries in the world on climate change.

“It is time for us to conserve our environment based on Islamic perspectives and theology,” Gusti said in a speech read by Henry Bastaman, the deputy for communication and public empowerment at the ministry.

Education Key to Save The Planet: Muslim Leaders
Jakarta Globe 12 Apr 10;

Bogor. After a two-day meeting, Muslim communities from around the world have produced a joint declaration underlining the importance of integrating science and Islamic teachings into policy focusing on better education to address climate change.

The 120 participants from 14 countries gathered since Friday for the first international conference known as Muslim Action on Climate Change agreed to set up a special council that would take the lead in protecting Islamic nations from the impacts of climate change and work hard to promote green cities.

The declaration recognized Bogor as a sustainable green city, joining three others worldwide including Sale, Morocco; Medina, Saudi Arabia; and Sanaa, Yemen.

“There are actually lots of steps that need to be discussed by Muslim communities to save the environment, but we have agreed [through the declaration] that tackling climate change should start with education,” said Ismid Hadad, head of the conference steering committee.

He said environmental issues were closely connected with science, therefore Muslim communities needed to focus on education. He said people will need to be more attuned to experts and scientists who can create solutions to reversing environmental destruction.

“This is just the early step in order to raise more awareness on environmental issues. There are a few decisions [that have been reached] but there are more studies coming up,” he said.

In October 2008, Muslim communities produced the Muslim Seven-Year Action Plan for Climate Change, which listed plans such as establishing an Islamic environmental labeling system, implementing a green hajj, building green mosques, and developing envi.

However, there was no discussion in the conference of key targets such as a plan to reduce the carbon footprint from the hajj. Ismid said representatives expected to talk about the pilgrimage program were not at the meeting. “We didn’t discuss the... hajj program as the details were still unclear,” he said.

Ismid said there would be more meetings to set up governing bodies to implement and monitor the seven-year plan.

At the conference’s opening ceremony, Emil Salim, presidential advisor on the environment and sustainable development, said Muslim communities needed to put science and religion into accord.

“Many years ago, Islamic teachings had close connections with science, for instance, when Muslim people were ordered to pray according to kiblat [always point to the west], Muslim scientists created astrology and astronomy,” Emil said. “But then there were huge gaps created between religious teachings and science.”

JG, Antara, AFP

Muslims urged to tackle climate change
UPI 12 Apr 10;

BOGOR, Indonesia, April 12 (UPI) -- An international Muslim conference on climate change concluded Saturday with The Bogor Declaration, stressing the need to prevent climate change through education.

Approximately 150 people, including environmental experts, scientists, religious clerics and organization leaders, from 14 countries participated in the two-day conference in Bogor, Indonesia.

Participants suggested that sustainability messages could be delivered to followers through the mosques and called for the establishment of eco-friendly Islamic boarding schools, The Jakarta Post reports.

However, they failed to discuss the implementation of the environmentally friendly hajj proposed at the first Muslim climate conference in Kuwait City in 2008.

Groups of environmentalists from Islamic states were formed during the Indonesian conference, with the aim of being a voice for Muslims on climate change at the international level.

"It essentially must start with education … we need experts and scientists who can create a way to prevent the environmental impact," said conference Chairman Ismid Hadad in concluding remarks, Indonesia's state-run news agency Antara reports.

Sead Elgezawi of the World Islamic Call Society told those attending the conference that many verses in the Koran promoted an environmentally friendly lifestyle.

"The majority of Muslims are unaware or uninterested in environmental issues even though millions of them worldwide suffer every year from a lack of natural resources," said Elgezawi, the Post reports.

He suggested that Muslims -- whose worldwide population totals 1.4 billion -- participate in a "green" revolution to restore the world's nature, as well as educate people about the need to protect the environment.

He called for Muslims to get involved and work with countries in the West that had invested in considerable research on such issues.

"We have to join hands and work together for the sake of humanity such that we leave this world in better shape than we found it for the next generation. There is no alternative," Elgezawi said.

Emil Salim, adviser to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on environmental and sustainable development, asked the group why many countries with a Muslim-majority population had poor environmental records. And he questioned why these countries were poor despite their wealth of oil reserves.

Salim said Muslim countries also needed to focus on environmental concerns in addition to boosting economic growth.

He warned that climate change was responsible for raising sea levels, resulting in frequent floods and eroding of coastlines. He pointed out that in Indonesia, the surface air temperature increased by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit during the 20th century. He predicted another increase of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit by 2070.