Climate Change and the Muslim World: The OIC Can do with ‘Captain Planet’

WHILE the media incessantly highlights the Muslim world’s battle with Islamophobia and the political crises in Iraq, Gaza and Iran, another set of issues that is just as pertinent — but often overlooked — is climate change. According to the World Meteorological Organisation, 90% of the global disasters that occurred between 1993 and 2002 were weather, climate or water-related.Many countries affected by climate change are also members of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), an international organisation of predominantly Muslim states. Environmental degradation has the potential to retard the OIC’s efforts at alleviating poverty and promoting progress in the Muslim world. Moreover, stalled economic development may feed into despair and instability in the Muslim world, which in turn may exacerbate the current political crises mentioned earlier.