Islamic leaders from 20 countries yesterday launched a climate change declaration to engage the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims on the most pressing issue of our times.
Adopted by 60 participants at the International Islamic Climate Change Symposium held in Istanbul from August 17 to 18, the declaration urged governments to signal the end of the road for fossil fuels and limit global warming above pre-industrial levels to 2, or preferably 1.5, degrees Celsius.
The declaration called for a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels as well as moving towards 100% renewable energy to mitigate the environmental impact of fossil fuel use.
Participants from the Muslim countries urged emitters to provide generous financial and technical support to less well-off nations to achieve the greenhouse gas phaseout.
In addition, the declaration urged corporations and the financial and business sectors to shoulder the consequences of their profit-making activities and to take an active role in reducing their carbon footprint.
In order to mitigate the environmental impact of their activities, the business sector should commit to switching to 100% renewable energy as quickly as possible, the declaration stated.
Representatives from the Muslim countries called on developed nations and oil-producing states to lead the phaseout of greenhouse gas emission by 2050.
The declaration presents the moral case, based on Islamic teachings, for Muslims and people of all faiths worldwide to take urgent climate action.
It was drafted by a large, diverse team of international Islamic scholars from around the world following a lengthy consultation period prior to the symposium.
It has been endorsed by more than 60 participants and organisations including the Grand Muftis of Uganda and Lebanon.
The Declaration is in harmony with the Papal Encyclical and has won the support of the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace of the Holy See.
Dr Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, said: “I am proud to be part of the Islamic Climate Change Symposium held in Istanbul and to be associated with the Islamic Declaration on Climate Change.”
“It appeals to all Muslims to abide by the tenets of Islam to preserve the environment and to help the poorest and most vulnerable,” he added yesterday in an email communication with the Dhaka Tribune.
Citing the findings of climate scientists, the declaration said a rise in global temperature of two degrees Celsius was a “tipping point” that would be unavoidable if global behaviour did not change.
The civil society of several Muslim countries adopted the declaration ahead of COP21, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will take place later this year in Paris.
The two-day symposium was organised by Climate Action Network International.