The UN Climate Change Conference is underway this week and Islamic Relief, as one the world’s largest NGOs inspired by Islamic teaching, is contributing a faith perspective to help tackle global warming.
COP23, the 23rd Conference of the Parties, is taking place in Bonn, Germany from 6-17 November, and brings together the world’s nations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
In 2015, the Paris agreement at COP21 delivered a landmark commitment to keeping the global temperature rise below 2°C. Since then, the world’s second largest polluter, the USA, has pulled out of the agreement and many of those who remain committed are dangerously behind their goals.
At COP23, Islamic Relief will be presenting its experience of working with faith communities at the Compassionate Simplicity Initiative, a new multi-faith sustainable living coalition that supports faith-based climate advocacy. Representatives from Islamic Relief Germany will be attending the events, alongside colleagues from the Humanitarian Academy for Development, an Islamic Relief initiative set up to enhance the knowledge and skills of the humanitarian sector through capacity building, applied research and leadership development.
Islamic Relief will also be mobilising its volunteers to join GreenFaith as they deliver a Multi-Faith Statement for Sustainable Living to COP23 on bicycles and bicycle rickshaws. Individuals from faith organisations and spiritual groups are invited to make a commitment to a lifestyle of compassionate simplicity for the sake of the climate by signing the Interfaith Climate Statement here.
Also at COP23, Islamic Relief Germany will be co-hosting a workshop on Islamic Climate Finance as an opportunity to catalyse greater climate ambition, and the Humanitarian Academy for Development will be discussing its global carbon reduction projects and community mobilisation efforts around sustainable consumption.
Islamic Relief currently has over 50 climate-related projects in 14 countries including Disaster Risk Reduction and large-scale programmes that build the resilience of climate-vulnerable populations. Globally, our climate change work involves supporting campaigns and initiatives, promoting an Islamic approach to sustainable living and working directly with governments, key partners and vulnerable communities.
Last year, Islamic Relief spearheaded the Islamic Declaration on Climate Change alongside international partners, summarising the threat humanity is facing and highlighting the Islamic obligation to live sustainably and justly on earth.
Islamic Relief’s Climate Change Policy outlines the Islamic principles of sustainable living as well as the conservation techniques that Islamic Relief has successfully adopted in Muslim communities.
Want to know more about COP23 and what you can do to help tackle climate change? Read Islamic Relief’s Quick and Easy Guide.