Islamic leaders from 20 countries who have gathered at the International Islamic Climate Change Symposium in Istanbul, Turkey, issued a ‘Declaration on climate change’ on Tuesday, which calls for phasing out of greenhouse gas emissions.
The declaration, replete with quotes from the Qur’an, calls upon the world, particularly the 1.6 billion Muslims, to protect the planet from being destroyed by human activity.
Pointing out that God has created the Universe in all its diversity, richness and vitality, the Declaration observes that because of human activity “we are in danger of ending life on our planet.”
“Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of the earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted,” the Declaration says.
Quoting the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of UNEP and the findings of over 1,300 scientists from 95 countries, the Islamic Declaration notes that “people have made greater changes to ecosystems in the last half of the 20th century than at any time in human history.”
While these changes have enhanced human well-being, they have been accompanied by ever-increasing degradation of our environment, it says.
Calling particularly upon the well-off nations and oil-producing states to “lead the way in phasing out their greenhouse gas emissions as early as possible and no later than the middle of the century,” the Ismalic leaders have sought “generous financial and technical support to the less well-off to achieve a phase-out of GHG.” They have also urged the developed countries to recognise their moral responsibility to “reduce consumption so that the poor may benefit from what is left of the earth’s non-renewable resources.”
It may be remembered that in June Pope Francis had issued an encyclical — a papal letter to all bishops of the Roman Catholic Church — calling for action to protect the God-created earth from the ravages of human-induced climate change.