BRIGHTON, UK, November 14 (IPS) – Climate change mitigation – claims cause and remedy for those worst affected by extreme weather solely due to change climate – weakening the rights of the religiously marginalized, but enlarging their rights is being advocated because in climate change a remedy can be offered.
As the COP27 negotiations continue, we must survive the widespread 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 of Godand added that the situation would improve if the people renounce 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 highest concentrations of people living in extreme poverty in Pakistan and one of the highest ethnic minorities (Hindu and Christian) populations in the country. This religious minority population is also among the poorest, especially when they belong scheduled actor.
Like other Pakistanis in Sindh, the religiously marginalized poor have lost everything due to unprecedented monsoon flooding but they suffer an additional weakness: systemic discrimination because of 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 to blame the devastation experienced by religious ‘followers’ in the face of natural disasters to climate change. is a mistake.
Climate change reductionism
A recent report by the UK’s International Development Commission argues that climate change is also driving religious discrimination and mass atrocities as a result of competition for control of natural resources and wealth under scarce conditions.
Recognition of the report’s interrelationships between environmental, political, economic and social phenomena is welcome, but only blames atrocities or religious purges of the population. with climate change is a curse for the protection of 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 other factors.” the role of historical marginalization in human experience”.
Climate change may in some cases highlight the impact of religious inequality, but we need to promote accountability of those in power who deliberately exclude and ‘do’. other’ different people through their discourses, 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 warns ahead of COP27there are risks from climate protection strategies that exclude indigenous people, 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 actually leads to the protection of biodiversity and the integrity of the habitat.
This suggests that when people experience intertwined inequalities, including religion or belief based on marginalization, not only do they become vulnerable to prejudice, but they also leave missed opportunities to build resilience to the impacts of climate change.
This does not mean that all manifestations of people’s religious practices or beliefs are beneficial to the protection of the environment, we know this 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 that a multitude of measures are needed to mitigate the effects of climate change on crops, the benefits of adapting the heritage knowledge and practices of people with religious heritage The religion that has been eliminated is for everyone – not just members of religious minorities. .
So even though powerful leaders wrongly weaponize religion to evade accountability and when climate change-related disasters occur, discrimination against religious minorities make them more vulnerable to its effects, or beliefs and knowledge of the land – prejudice against the marginalized actually has a lot to do with religion. much to do with climate change.
Therefore, during this month’s COP27 climate summit (which ends on 18 November), the right to freedom of religion or belief must be considered in policies aimed at redressing inequality in climate. climate if we’re serious about going beyond climate change mitigation and actually 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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