islamic declaration on environment protection and sustainable

Under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI

Draft Islamic Declaration on Environment Protection and Sustainable Development

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Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, 8 - 9 October

2015

2م 01

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الرباط ـ اململكة املغربية، 8 - 9 أ

6th Islamic Conference of Environment M

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ئةلبي

اء اوزر

المؤتمر ا��س�مي السادس ل

Rabat, Royaume du Maroc, 8 - 9 octobre

2015

2م 01

ر 5كتوب

الرباط ـ اململكة املغربية، 8 - 9 أ

6ème Conférence islamique des Ministres de l’E

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ISESCO Headquarters, Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco,24-25 Zul-Hijja 1436H / 8-9 October 2015

ICEM-6/2015/3.4

6th Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers“Climate Change: Future Challenges for Sustainable Development”

Under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI

Draft Islamic Declaration on Environment Protection and Sustainable Development 5

We, the Ministers in charge of the environment and sustainable development issues in the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, taking part in the Sixth Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers, held in Rabat, capital of the Kingdom of Morocco, on 8-9 October 2015;

Based on the resolutions of the previous five sessions of the Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers (ICEM), held in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, respectively in 2002 and 2006; Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, in 2008; Hammamet, Republic of Tunisia, in 2010; and Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan, in 2012; and on the General Framework of the Islamic Agenda for Sustainable Development (GFIASD) as issued by the First Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers, and its amended versions of 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2015;

Pursuant to the decisions of the Third Meeting of the Islamic Executive Bureau for the Environment, held at ISESCO’s headquarters in Rabat, on 3-4 June 2015;

Recalling the commitments of the Conference to international and regional agreements and conventions, in particular the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro (1992), and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg 2002); and based on the Ten-Year Programme of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the efforts of ISESCO and OIC-affiliated institutions towards fulfilling the agenda of sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals since 2002 and preparing for the agenda of Global Development Goals for the years 2015-2030;

Inspired by the noble principles of Islam, which seize and codify the relationship between humans and the environment; building on the Islamic perspective and approach calling for the preservation of ecological balance and harmony and for fulfilling lieutenancy on earth through good and constructive actions, which is the mainstay of sustainable development, and for promoting values of integration and cooperation in the sense that they are the legacy of successive generations; and being conscious that the environment and environmental resources constitute a universal property and a prerequisite for sustainable development;

Observing that the main manifestations of environmental degradation in the Islamic world include growing pressure on water resources, erosion of forests and pastures, decline of agricultural production, the spread of desertification claiming more and more fertile and arable land, low-lying coastal areas affected by rising sea levels, flow of salty seawater into coastal freshwater aquifers; and considering natural disasters becoming more frequent and more devastating, coupled with increasing air, water and marine pollution disrupting the life of millions of people, along with escalating poverty, illiteracy, forced and voluntary migration, armed conflicts, population concentration, unemployment, and growing debt burden among other aspects that are causing considerable difficulties to states in terms of social, economic and environmental governance;

Recognizing that the degradation and over-exploitation of the environment have become pressing issues of today’s world, which thwart the international community’s efforts for sustainable development; and taking into account the various dimensions of the complex

6 6th Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers

environmental crisis which undermine development efforts;

Warning against the over-utilization and abusive use of ecological resources, which disrupts the balance between the components of the natural environment; and being cognizant of the serious threats such impacts pose to the safety of human communities and the stability of people and property;

Building on the relevant international and regional instruments, such as the Sustainable Development Initiative in the Arab Region (2002) and the Arab Ministerial Declaration on Climate Change; and recalling the Doha Ministerial Conference, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development adopted by the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the outcomes of Rio+20, the Agenda 21 regarding conservation and management of resources for development, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change along with the Kyoto Protocol and all the commitments ensuing therefrom, in addition to the conferences and summits held under the auspices of the United Nations which sought to define a comprehensive vision for the issue of sustainable development, on top of which are the lessons and achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and the outcomes of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit held last September in New York to develop the “Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030)”;

Based on these instruments and accumulated experiences; commending the holding of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit also known as ‘COP 21’, in December 2015 in Paris; lauding its objective to reach a global agreement that affirms the required political commitment and effectively contributes to reducing the causes of climate change in today’s world; and convinced of the need to step up the international community’s efforts and value their accumulated outcomes since the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 along with the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol (1997), the Copenhagen Summit (2009), and the conferences of Cancun (2010), Durban (2011) and Doha (2012), in an effort to complement the existing instruments as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, and wishing to give further effect to the intention announced by the parties in 2011 to conclude a new agreement on climate change by 2015 and to bring it into effect as soon as possible;

I - Reaffirmation of Commitments

1. Emphasize the need for a renewed political commitment by the Member States to the international agenda for sustainable development, in accordance with the internationally agreed principles and instruments, channeling all national and international efforts into achieving sustainable development, while taking into account the importance of mustering political will as a precondition to any progress in this connection, focusing more on filling the existing gaps by honoring the financial and technical commitments, establishing or strengthening national structures for sustainable development to implement sustainable development plans and programmes, and endowing them with in-house follow-up bodies to optimize implementation, and also involve civil society organizations and the private sector in the implementation of sustainable development plans, given their vital role in this regard.


2. Commend the role of the UN agencies in the sphere of the environment and sustainable development, while stressing the need to further enhance collaboration with Member States, provide them with the necessary resources both technical and financial for implementing relevant projects, and urge the international community to take concrete steps towards debt cancellation, easy access to markets, technology transfer and capacity building.

3. Call for adopting a comprehensive and integrated perspective of sustainable development, strengthening the existing international institutional framework in this regard, and taking into account the expanded scope of sustainable development goals to include the dimensions pertaining to equality, cultural rights, disparity reduction, respect for all human rights, and all required conditions to preserve the universal cultural, civilizational and religious heritage in sustainable development. We also call on the Member States to give it special attention. We further call on the United Nations agencies and regional organizations to reconsider the relevant international instruments in order to enable all States to address the social, economic, environmental, cultural and human rights-related challenges facing sustainable development.

4. Call for concerted efforts by the international community in order to put an end to internal wars, occupation, colonization and conflicts that have taken place in some Member States, with all the consequent damage to development infrastructure, increase in the number of refugees and destruction of historical monuments and civilizational and cultural heritage, in such a way as to stimulate the process of sustainable development, and proceed in accordance with Principle 23 of the Rio Declaration which specifically states that the environment and natural resources of people under oppression, domination and occupation shall be protected, given that sustainable development cannot be achieved in the absence of security, peace and stability.

II – Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management

5. Note that the Member States, given their limited resources and their geographical location, are the most affected by extreme climate events and the serious challenges associated with them, on top of which are water depletion, drop in food production, rising sea levels, drought waves and deterioration of human health; which call for measures to reduce the risks resulting from natural disasters, by promoting preparedness and early warning, incorporating disaster reduction strategies into international and national sustainable development policies, encouraging investment in disaster risk reduction and reaching an international binding agreement to reduce and address climate change effects.

6. Emphasize the necessity for developed countries to assume their environmental responsibilities, take resolute measures in accordance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol as well as subsequent international meetings on the climate, and pay more attention to degradation of biodiversity and habitat around the world, which causes even more economic loss than global warming, according to UN relevant reports, through managing rampant water and air pollution and other pollutants which lead to losses in biodiversity.


7. Call on the United Nations and other international organizations particularly the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), development banks, donors and global funds to support the Executive Work Plan for the Implementation of the Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Islamic Countries which aims to strengthen Member States’ capacity to cope with disasters; improve understanding of risks and access to data, promote disaster risk financing and insurance strategies; help countries prepare for disasters and strengthen post-disaster response and reconstruction capacity; and implement disaster risk management programmes in all Member States that need support to increase their resilience capacity; welcome the “Tangiers’ Call” on climate change, launched on 20 September 2015 by King Mohammed VI of Morocco and President François Hollande of France for a strong, solidarity-based and concerted international action in favor of climate, and call for its adoption ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held next December in Paris.

III – Poverty Eradication and Food Security

8. Emphasize the need to strengthen awareness about the importance of eradicating poverty and mustering the political will to achieve this goal, for the implementation of the sustainable development agenda, capacity building and rehabilitation of human resources through education, training and qualification, and strengthening of capacities, as well as selecting the most appropriate applications and projects to eradicate poverty in the most feasible economic and technical terms and to encourage cooperation between all stakeholders for the implementation of comprehensive programmes.

9. Believe that green economy creates numerous opportunities of “green jobs” in the different economic sectors, such as renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, ecosystem rehabilitation and protection, ecotourism, waste management and other sectors that can contribute to reducing youth unemployment. In this context, there is need to develop policies to support small and medium enterprises –considered as a major source of employment opportunities – to help them adapt to poverty reduction mechanisms in rural areas, through preserving natural resources and optimizing their utilization in agricultural and non-agricultural income-generating activities, while reducing rural exodus and improving livelihoods in local communities.

10. Propose developing concrete measures to address the ever-increasing rates of population growth in the Member States, despite the decreasing trend registered at the global level, by focusing on awareness-raising, education of women and girls, and development of awareness about the importance of family planning, child care and population growth control; and warn against precarious health conditions in poor and marginalized areas, deteriorating sanitation services, escalating pollution and lack of waste management practices, the steadily rising rural exodus which leads to ruralization of cities, and the rapid urbanization process leading to burgeoning growth of slums which disturbs ecological balance.

11. Realize the crucial importance of water to sustainable development processes, food security, eradication of poverty, transition to green economy, and its indispensable


character for human health and well-being; further realize that there is increased pressure on fresh water resources and that this may eventually create crises between States, which requires renewed commitment to improving water situation and bringing more actions under the Strategy for Management of Water Resources in the Islamic World and the OIC Water Vision 2025. We also recommend enforcing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, and mustering support for preserving arable lands.

12. Reaffirm that food security is a real issue in most of the Member States, particularly in those having faced famine in the past. As soils, freshwater, and oceans, forests and biodiversity are being rapidly degraded, and since climate change is putting even more pressure on available resources, a profound change of food and agriculture systems is needed to nourish the ever-increasing number of people suffering from hunger in Member States and beyond.

13. Believe that the food and agriculture sector offers key solutions for development, and is central for hunger and poverty eradication, and that agriculture, forestry and fisheries can provide food and boost income, while supporting people-centered rural development and protecting the environment; and recommend added attention to secure access to affordably priced GMO-free and safe food containing the fibres necessary for an active and healthy life.

IV – Green Economy and Energy Efficiency

14. Emphasize the need to adopt green economy as a major mechanism of sustainable development and to ensure a smooth transition to it, particularly in the context of poverty eradication and institutional development of Member States’ economies, bearing in mind that reducing poverty and improving income distribution are some of the most important economic goals advanced by Islam to create a dynamic interaction between socio-economic processes and environmental priorities in order to support the Islamic concept of sustainable development which guarantees the rights of present and future generations.

15. Appreciate cooperation between Member States and the international community by advancing the agenda on cleanliness of the environment and green economy in many national planning processes, but reiterate that most of the Member States lack ample resources to get out of the vicious circle of poverty and inequality, and face the challenges of rapidly growing population, lack of food, scarcity of water, inadequate conditions of energy security, uncertainty and climate extremes which are adding to the adversities.

16. Recommend taking into account the impact of global economic crises on developing countries, the aim being to adopt more productive and sustainable development patterns through the rational use of natural resources, with focus on placing ecosystem balance at the core of economic development and social progress; and propose that the international community undertake practical measures and concrete initiatives to alleviate the debt of developing countries, open markets, and facilitate movement of goods and people, technology transfer and capacity building.


17. Underline the importance of developing strategies and policies to guarantee energy sustainability as a key driver for advancing economic and human development, improving living conditions and basic services, and achieving human development through education and training in the different areas, while promoting scientific research in energy efficiency and energy rationalization, together with renewable energy technology, exchange of expertise in technological and industrial areas and promotion of use of new technologies in energy operating systems.

18. Recommend encouraging communication and interaction between experts of the Member States, their international counterparts, industrialists, business people, environmental technology developers and users, political decision makers, and education and training specialists, promoting energy technology localization in the Member States, developing the industrial fabric in the different areas of energy use and projects of renewable energy generation, while at the same time broadening the scope of cooperation between all stakeholders in implementing and ensuring adequate funding of such projects.

islamic declaration on environment protection and sustainable

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