THE Istanbul declaration on climate change, though not legally binding, is to be welcomed mainly for two reasons. First, it helps fill a significant void (Islam's voice) in the debate on global warming and thus promises Muslim contribution toward efforts to mitigate its effects. The declaration, announced a fortnight ago as part of the two-day international Islamic Climate Change symposium held in Istanbul, calls for rejection of human greed for natural resources, respect of nature's “perfect equilibrium,” and recognition of the “moral obligation” to conserve. Some 60 leading clerics and religious scholars from 20 Muslim countries took part in the symposium organized by Islamic Relief Worldwide, the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, and Green Faith. “The Islamic Climate Change Declaration” urges Muslims the world over to recognize and take action against the threat of climate change. They should work toward phasing out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and a 100 percent renewable energy strategy. They should lead the way in phasing out their greenhouse gas emissions “as early as possible and no later than the middle of the century.” The declaration stresses the moral obligation of corporations, political leaders and all Muslims to protect Earth. “We are in danger of ending life as we know it on our planet,” the declaration says, adding, “This current rate of climate change cannot be sustained, and the Earth's fine equilibrium may soon be lost.” “What will future generations say of us, who leave them a degraded planet as our legacy?” the declaration asks. One passage in the declaration calls for corporations and the business sector to “shoulder the consequences of their profit-making activities and to take a visibly more active role in reducing their carbon footprint and other forms of impact upon the natural environment.” Clear emission reduction targets and monitoring systems should be agreed in the UN climate change summit in Paris in December, the declaration says. More concretely, it hopes to rally the world's wealthiest and oil-producing countries to act as leaders in cutting emissions and helping less affluent governments make the same reductions. The declaration follows the encyclical issued by Pope Francis in June urging action on climate change and condemning a consumerist, growth-at-all-costs culture for corrupting “integral ecology” of the Earth. It strengthens the trend of faith-based climate activism as did the pope's encyclical and Dalai Lama's appeal to take care of the planet. But the 8-page Istanbul declaration could have more influence than the pope's 192-page decree not because there are more Muslims than Catholics but faith-based appeals will always have a decisive influence on Muslim public opinion. In almost all Muslim countries, people's main source of information is the mosque. Climate change activists feel mosques should include an environmental message in the Friday prayers, telling those in attendance to plant trees, shun extravagance and conserve water and electricity. The Istanbul initiative is important from another point of view also. Many Muslims live in areas highly vulnerable to climate change, with predicted increases in drought, floods, and other extreme weather events as a result of higher temperatures. In late July, Turkey, where the symposium was held, experienced extreme heat waves. The six countries of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) face multitude of climate change challenges including desertification, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and sea level rise. A low lying archipelago with more territorial sea than land, the Maldives is, scientists warn, likely to disappear under the waves if the current pace of climate change continues to raise sea levels. Iran, Afghanistan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are among the countries with the worst air pollution in the world, according to a 2014 World Health Organization report. Muslims need others' help to tackle these and similar problems and challenges. Istanbul symposium sets the stage for such joint action with faith-based and secular organizations and herein lies the second reason why we should welcome it.
