Muslims in UK & Ireland unite in call for COP26 climate action

Muslims across the UK and Ireland have issued a united rallying call for world leaders to act decisively on the climate crisis.

“The joint statement is a bold declaration on the need for urgency in the face of the climate crisis,” said Kamran Shezad, The Director of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES/EcoIslam), convenor and signatory to the joint statement. ”British and Irish Muslims feel they, along with others in the many faith communities of these islands, have to stand up to be counted and demand that COP26 delivers for the most vulnerable, and a safer, greener, future for all.”

With the crucial UN Climate talks in Glasgow - COP26 - only a few weeks away, major Muslim organisations in the two countries are demanding a just transition to a green economy and more support for the most vulnerable.

It is the first time such a coalition of major Muslim organisations has made a joint statement on climate and the environment – underwriting the unity of growing calls from faith organisations for climate justice.

The statement, issued on Monday 18th October, has been signed by 8 national Muslim bodies and umbrella organisations in the UK and Ireland which represent a large number of the countries’ combined 2.7 million Muslim population.

It calls for world leaders at COP26 to:

meet the Paris Agreement targets

sign up to net-zero emissions targets

end all subsidies for fossil fuels

commit to a total greening of energy sources

provide new funding to address climate-related loss and damage.

The faith-led campaign builds on the statement released by the Vatican in early October, as well as the International Interfaith Day of Action, Faiths 4 Climate, taking place on the 17th and 18th of October.

Highlighting the importance of environmental sustainability in Islam, the joint signatories call on and commit to reinvigorating their teachings, talks and sermons on the need for care for creation, as well as promoting earth stewardship, sustainable living, the greening of mosques and reducing the use of natural resources.

They are also calling for politicians, community leaders and organisations to raise their voices for climate action on all available platforms; use their influence to hold local authorities and government to account; encourage others to include environmental sustainability in their strategic plans, and to work with all parties who are also committed to the cause.