Earth Day
April 21, 2022 | Canada
Every year on April 22, Earth Day is celebrated as the anniversary of the modern environmental movement.
Environmental advocacy has a long history in the Islamic tradition. More than a thousand years ago, the Ikhwan al-Safa wrote a story about a debate between humankind and animals. Back and forth, King Biswarap, a wise ruler, hears the complaints of animals and the justification of humans for their actions. It is only when the humans acknowledge that their intellectual capabilities make them responsible to Allah for their actions that King Biswarap settles the debate. Care of the environment is a duty of the trusteeship humankind has been charged with and is thus an ethical obligation.
In the face of climate change, arguably the greatest challenge humankind has ever faced, environmental stewardship is more important than ever. Countries around the world have committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to no more than 2 ℃ above pre-industrial levels while striving to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 ℃. These targets matter because the greater the temperature increase, the greater the impacts including elevated sea levels, forest fires, and desertification. Already, human activities have caused 1.1 ℃ of global warming to date and the impacts are being felt in every region of the world. To achieve these targets, global greenhouse gas emissions must be net zero by the mid-century.
The Aga Khan Development Network has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2030 and Jamati institutions around the world have adopted the same mandate.
The Aga Khan Council for Canada is committed to improving the environmental footprint of Jamatkhanas and its operations. Over the coming weeks, we will be rolling out across Canada an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System which will drive changes in the way we operate. For example, Jamatkhanas will be phasing out the use of single use plastics including carrier bags. Plastic carrier bags have low recycling rates, estimated at less than 15% and such bags are known to cause problems in recycling systems and become caught in sorting and processing machinery. Plastic waste is one of the greatest threats to marine life.
Each one of us has a role to play in the fight against climate change. Energy consumption is the biggest threat to climate change and small actions such as dressing warmly during cold seasons can have a significant impact on the energy consumption of your home, and indeed Jamatkhana spaces also. Organic waste such as food waste that ends up in landfills results in the generation of methane gas, a greenhouse gas with 30 times the climate change impact of carbon dioxide. Almost all major cities in Canada now have green bin organic waste collection programs. Placing food waste in the green bin keeps food waste out of landfills, preventing methane emissions.
Fulfilling our obligations as stewards of Allah’s creation is not just an institutional responsibility, but an individual one as well. To learn more about the environmental activities of the Aga Khan Development Network and ways to live more sustainably, visit the Environmental Responsibility page at the.ismaili.
“90% of the big fish are gone and by 2050 there will be more plastic in our seas than fish. So, it is a great sadness that I sometimes think that nearly everything you see in my images is under some form of threat, be it from climate change, warming, acidification and sea-level rise, habitat destruction, deep sea trawling, dynamite and overfishing, pollution and plastic…. But as an individual one can make a difference. Might we try to stop using plastic completely?”
Prince Hussain Aga Khan, 2019
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