BRIGHTON, UK, November 14 (IPS) – Climate change mitigation – assumes causes and remedial solutions for those worst affected by extreme weather are variable climate change – weakening the rights of the religiously marginalized, but expanding the rights of those who are being advocated for in climate change can provide a remedial solution.
As the COP27 negotiations continue, we must survive the pervasive discrimination behind why some face more devastation than others, and pursue equitable policies. climate sensitive people with religious marginalization and freedom of religion or belief (Forb).
Climate change and religion
In response to the devastating floods in Pakistan, a top political leader in Pakistan’s Sindh province suggested that destruction caused as a punishment from Godand added that the situation would improve if people turned their backs on their sins.
This is just one example of how globally today those in power are weaponizing religion to cover up insurmountable governance. But the use of religion by those in power to cover up their failures only makes the situation worse for vulnerable people, many of whom are religious minorities.
Sindh Province has one of the largest concentrations of people living in extreme poverty in Pakistan, and has one of the highest populations of religious minorities (Hindu and Christian). country. This religious minority is also among the poorest, especially because they belong to Schedule.
Like other Pakistanis in Sindh, the religiously marginalized poor have lost everything to unprecedented floods but they have experienced a bigger vulnerability: systemic discrimination traditions due to their religious identity.
This is reflected in their exclusion from large-scale poverty reduction programs such as in recent research. This potential vulnerability and discrimination is why it is wrong to attribute the devastation experienced by ‘religious’ people in the face of disasters to climate change.
Mitigating climate change
A recent report by the UK’s International Development Commission argues that climate change is also a cause of religious discrimination and mass atrocities because of competition for control of natural resources and wealth in scarce conditions.
The recognition that the report makes of the links between environmental, political, economic and social phenomena is widely welcomed, but only attributing the causes of atrocities or purges religion with climate change is not good for protecting people’s right to freedom of religion or belief.
In this way, climate change mitigation assumes that the cause – and therefore the remedy – of all ills lies in the climate.
Like Rigg and Mason As suggested, climate science mitigation ignores the role of structural factors such as “market forces, discriminatory policies, state corruption and inefficiencies, and marginalization.” historically influenced human experience”.
In some cases, climate change may highlight the impact of religious inequality, but we need to stress the accountability of those in power who deliberately exclude and ‘abet’ those in power. differentiated through their speeches, policies and practices.
Religious and cultural beliefs are good for the environment
In the name of combating climate change, we should also never consider sustainability against inclusivity in development policies and practices. Marked by a Amnesty International’s warning before COP27there are risks from climate protection strategies that exclude indigenous peoples whose norms and beliefs are considered sacred, even if it is not called “religious”.
Research from Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID) to show how to do Uganda Wildlife Authority bans indigenous people from accessing specific territories contain religious shrines, because of the belief that they are destroying flora and fauna.
When the Bamba and Bakonjo people of Uganda are allowed to practice some religious and customary knowledge, this really leads to the protection of biodiversity and the integrity of the habitat.
This suggests that when people experience intertwined inequalities, including religion or marginalized beliefs, they not only become vulnerable to prejudice but also missed opportunities to build resilience to the impacts of climate change.
This is not to say that every human expression of religion or belief is beneficial to the preservation of the environment, we know that is not the case. Yet another example can be found in the Middle East, where extreme weather events have devastated crops.
Here, the Coptics – the largest religious minority in the region – developed a system of how to exploit the land to remove social stigma and ensure that no one – a Muslim or a Coptic – was not yes.
While we know much is needed to mitigate the effects of climate change on crops, the benefits of adapting the heritage knowledge and practices of people of religious heritage lie next door is for everyone – not just members of religious minorities.
So whether it is powerful leaders who wrongly weaponize religion to avoid accountability and when climate change-related disasters occur, discrimination against religious minorities lead to greater vulnerability to its effects, or beliefs and knowledge of the land – prejudice against people who are religiously disadvantaged actually has a lot to do with climate change.
Therefore, during this month’s COP27 climate summit (ending November 18), freedom of religion or belief must be considered in policies aimed at redressing economic inequality. climate if we’re serious about going beyond climate change reductionism and really promoting climate justice.
Professor Mariz Tadros is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) and Director of CREID
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