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<Home> <Environment> <Islamic Environmental Law> <Advancing Islamic Environmental Law: A Collaborative Exploration> ADVANCING
ISLAMIC ENVIRONMENTAL LAW: Background
Information and Preliminary Thoughts The Environmental Law Institute (ELI) is proud to collaborate with the Regional Organization for Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME), the International Centre for Environment and Development (ICED), and Bayero University Kano to organize a planning workshop on Islamic Environmental Law to be held in Kuwait City January 24-25, 2004. The purpose of this workshop is to prepare to convene a dialogue on "Advancing Islamic Environmental Law: A Collaborative Exploration." This project will foster a greater understanding of Islam and Muslims in North America and Europe, while stimulating discussion on strengthening environmental law in Islamic nations and Muslim communities. It will facilitate an in-depth discussion of the role that Islamic ethics and law play in the lives of Muslims and the way these ethics may be implemented through laws, institutions, and practices. It will examine recent examples showing environmental protection and community empowerment based on these traditional norms. It will also highlight the human and political dimensions of Islamic environmental law, including the role of women in environmental and natural resources management. The original
concept behind this project is outlined in Section I below. It is taken
from the original ELI Concept Paper that was designed to seek funding
from foundations. Thus, it must be read with this purpose in mind. In
Section II, we provide the original suggested agenda for the symposium
as well as some thoughts on the agenda. In Section III, we provide a list
of potential participants that was brought together by ELI and Drs. Al-Awadhi,
Tolba, and Ahmad, and in Section IV we provide some thoughts on the January
24-25 workshop agenda. I. ORIGINAL CONCEPT PAPER
The heart of this project is a two-day symposium to be held in the United States to engage policymakers, scholars, the media, and the American public at large in a cross-cultural dialogue. This symposium will bring together approximately 300 people, including Islamic scholars, US government officials (from the State Department, US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Agency for International Development, Capitol Hill staff, and various domestic agencies), domestic and international media, NGOs working on environment and international relations, and US academics. We expect to engage Islamic scholars representing a range of Islamic schools of thought and geographic regions, including 15 leading scholars from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia as well as at least 5 currently in the United States. Tentatively scheduled for Fall 2004, this two-day symposium on "Advancing Islamic Environmental Law" will be held at the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC. It will be designed to foster a discussion, with scholars providing a substantive overview followed by a moderated discussion by the audience. Particular attention will be paid to engaging the US print and broadcast media to ensure that the dialogue reaches as wide an audience as possible. Additionally, the high-profile dinner event planned for the first day will be designed to garner additional public attention. The conference will start with an overview of the role that Islamic ethics and law plays in the lives of Muslims, as well as Muslim communities and nations around the world. This overview is important in establishing the basis for the following two days of dialogue. American participants will explore how Islamic law establishes a common set of norms that governs how hundreds of millions of people conduct their daily lives in communities throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. As such, Islamic ethics and law offer a rich and powerful set of tools for protecting the environment upon which Muslims and non-Muslims depend. And this common respect for the environment can provide common ground for Muslims and Americans to engage in civil discourse. The second session will explore the richness of Islamic environmental ethics. From its beginning 1400 years ago, this set of norms has mandated respect for life and condemned pollution through internal, moral mechanisms. Islamic sources show a deep concern for the environment, and this is particularly true of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, which have numerous references to the overall protection of the environment, including the inherent value of the diversity of plants, animals and other biological resources. Islamic Law has also developed a variety of mechanisms, norms and institutions to ensure that "mizan" (ecological balance) is maintained. In fact, for centuries Muslim communities have put these teachings into practice, especially at the local level. Building on these Islamic environmental ethics, the conference will then examine how these ethics may be implemented through laws, institutions, and practices in particular sectors. Specific sessions will address: air and water pollution, solid and hazardous waste management, natural resource management, and biodiversity protection and protected area management. The scholars and participants will consider whether and under what circumstances it may be more effective to advance environmental goals through customary Islamic norms and institutions, and when it would be productive to shape secular laws to reflect those norms and institutions. This discourse is anticipated to be lively and provide an opportunity for American participants to share relevant development experiences in Muslim communities and elsewhere around the world. In considering how to strengthen and develop Islamic environmental law, scholars and participants will examine recent experiences where environmental protection and community empowerment have relied on traditional norms. For example, in the Misali area of Tanzania, which is overwhelmingly Muslim, overfishing by foreign vessels had depleted the fishery. In the 1990s, local fishermen had resorted to dynamiting coral reefs to catch fish. Working with the local imams, NGOs highlighted Islamic precepts in a public awareness campaign to swiftly and successfully convince the fishermen to adopt less destructive fishing practices. Another panel will highlight the human and political dimensions of Islamic environmental law, including the role of women in environmental and natural resource management and the relationship between Muslim communities and nations and non-Muslim communities and nations. This panel is essential, as environmental matters are not isolated from human society and human conduct. In addition to ethical and legal considerations, this panel will also explore how experiences in non-Muslim contexts might be adapted to be relevant to Islamic environmental law as well as how Islamic environmentalism may be relevant to the global environmental discourse. Moreover, the role of bilateral and multilateral donors in promoting environmental protection in Islamic nations and Muslim communities will be discussed. The final substantive panel will address options for improving the implementation and enforcement of Islamic environmental law, including both environmental law that is based on Islamic law and secular environmental law in Islamic nations. These options include both legal tools, such as judicial action, as well as approaches that rely more on incentives and ethics. The discussion will also address the role of the public in assisting in monitoring, implementing, and enforcement. The final session will synthesize the discussions over the previous two days, highlighting what Americans can learn from Islamic environmental ethics and law and fostering a broader, more pluralistic view held by Americans of Islam and Muslims. Additionally, this synthesis will highlight how the United States can support efforts to protect the health and environment in Muslim communities and nations, reaffirming and strengthening our relationships with these regions that have been buffeted recently. Following the symposium, ELI and our partners will develop a concise policy paper that synthesizes the themes and discussions of the conference. This paper will be translated into Arabic and disseminated widely in the United States and Muslim communities around the world. In addition to hard copies, the policy paper will be distributed through rapid and inexpensive means such as the Internet and information centers. Working with our partners, ELI is uniquely positioned to convene this dialogue in the United States. For more than thirty years, the Environmental Law Institute has served as a nonprofit center for environmental research, education, and publishing. ELI brings institutions and ideas together, serves as a forum for professionals of different disciplines and viewpoints, and works to establish and improve communications among the frequently conflicting interests in the field. For example, ELI organized a high-profile conference on the environmental consequences of war, sponsored by ELI, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences. The conference, which was keynoted by Mikhail Gorbachev and Oscar Arias, included the participation of military leaders, selected scientists, economists, lawyers, government and non-governmental representatives from the Middle East and other parts of the world, academicians, and activists. It also resulted in a groundbreaking volume published in 2000 by Cambridge University Press. In addition
to the National Geographic Society, ELI's partners in this endeavor include
Dr. Ali Ahmad, who is Director of the African Center for Sustainable Development
and a former ELI Visiting Scholar; Dr. Mostafa Tolba of the International
Centre for Environment and Development; and Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Awadi,
who is the Executive Secretary of the Regional Organization for the Protection
of the Marine Environment (ROPME) and the President of the Islamic Organization
for Medical Sciences. We hope to engage other institutions in this project,
including at least one institution of higher learning in the Persian Gulf
as well as IUCN - The World Conservation Union and the United Nations
Environment Program. II. DRAFT AGENDA FOR SYMPOSIUM
DAY 1 9:00 - 9:30 Welcome and Keynote 9:30 - 10:45 The Role of Islamic Ethics and Law in Muslim Communities and Nations 10:45 - 11:00 Break 11:00 - 12:30 Islamic Environmental Ethics: Environmental Protections over 1400 Years 12:30 - 2:00
Lunch 3:15 - 4:30 Solid and Hazardous Waste Management 4:30 - 4:45 Break 4:45 - 6:30 Natural Resource Management: Forests, Minerals, and Water 7:00 - 9:00 Dinner. DAY 2 9:00 - 11:00 Biodiversity Protection and Management of Protected Areas 11:00 - 11:15
Break 12:30 - 2:00 Lunch 2:00 - 3:45 Implementation and Enforcement: Government Institutions, the Regulated Community, and the Public 3:45 - 4:00 Break 4:00 - 5:00 Synthesis and Conclusions: Looking Forward
Keynote Speakers His Highness
the Amir of Kuwait Potential
Speakers/Session Chairs Ahmed Ali
[Saudi Arabia?] Vartan Gregorian
[Armenia/Iran/Lebanon/United States] Abdullahi
An Na'im [Sudan] Frank Vogel
[United States] Khalid Abu
El-Fadl [Egypt & Kuwait] Nazli Choucri
[Egypt] Seyyed Hossein
Nasr [Iran] Mawil Izzi-Deen
Samarrai [Iraq] Naser I.
Faruqui [___ / Canada] Richard Foltz
[United States] Yasin Dutton
[United Kingdom] Ismail Serageldin
[Egypt] Abubakar
Bagader [Saudi Arabia] Fazlun Khalid
[Sri Lanka / United Kingdom] Mohamed Hyder
[Kenya] Badria Al-Awadi
[Kuwait] John Esposito
[United States] Kamal Abu
El-Magd [Egypt] Christopher
Weeramantry [Sri Lanka] Martin Lau
[United Kingdom] Carl Bruch
[United States] Philippe
Cullet [Switzerland] Lisa Anderson
[United States] Zafar Mahfooz Nomani [India] Cherif M.
Bassiouni [Egypt / United States] Mohamed Bekhechi
[___ / United States]
(1) agreement
on the goals of the project and that a symposium and publication are the
appropriate means to reach the goals; Hopefully, all workshop participants will agree upon the premise that a major symposium should be convened the product of which would be a publication of the major papers plus an ongoing dialogue. We suggest that the original idea of convening the conference with the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., be considered. In terms of agenda and list of participants, we provide the following thoughts on the agenda for the January 24-25 workshop. A session on " Islamic Environmental Law and Ethics" could provide an overview of the role of Islamic ethics and law in the lives of Muslim people, communities and nations. Under this theme, conference participants will explore how Islamic law establishes a common set of norms that governs how millions of Muslims live their daily lives and how these norms translate to instruments of environmental protection and natural resource management for sustainable development. A session on "Sources of Islamic Environmental Law" could aim to identify the key sections of the Qur'an and the Sunnah that deal with environmental protection and natural resource management. Islamic law contains a number of important principles and concepts governing the relationship between human beings and their environment and natural resources. A proper understanding of these concepts is indispensable to meaningful environmental protection in Islam. The symposium could focus on the role of key concepts such as Khalifah (stewardship); Mizan (ecological balance); sustainable utilization; inter-generational fairness; prohibitions against waste and damage; compassion to other creatures, etc. We could also hold a session on the following topics: · Environmental Governance in Islam. Roles and responsibilities of governments, individuals, groups, and communities in environmental protection and natural resource management. Implementation and enforcement of Islamic Environmental Law · Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Identify linkages and synergies between secular and Islamic environmental law (common principles/approaches, lessons and best practices, mutual reinforcement). Acknowledge differences in cultures where synergies among Islamic communities do not exist. · Environmental rights in Islam. Do environmental rights, such as a right to a healthy environment, right to water, exist under Islam? How do human rights and environmental rights intersect under Islam? · Basis and approaches to protection of plants, animals and other biological resources in Islam. The role of protected areas (al-haramaan, al-harim) and reserves (al-Hima) could be discussed. Is the conservation ethic inherent in Islam? · A session on air and water pollution management and/or waste management in Islam could be very illuminating. · Natural resource management in Islam (rights to use of water, land & soil, forests, minerals) could be another topic The workshop will also have to identify funding needs and potential funders as well. Based on experience with past and ongoing activities of a similar nature, ELI conservatively estimates that the partners will need about $500,000 to successfully organize the main conference in Washington and to fund the publication and distribution of the papers thereafter. It will,
therefore, be a key role of the January 24-25 workshop participants to
identify potential individual and institutional sponsors/co-sponsors.
We should also invite pledges of sponsorship/co-sponsorship from institutions
attending the workshop. |