Muslims urged to tackle climate change

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.