25% of the world practices Islam – a growing religion with an ethical responsibility to care for the planet. However, many Muslim countries face the biggest impact from climate change, although they often contribute some of the least total carbon emissions. I hosted this event to bring together Muslim leaders, Manchester City Council elected officials and staff, Members of Parliament, and environmental activists together to discuss the challenges and how we can overcome them by working together.

The ongoing climate crisis is not new – scientists have known for decades that climate change is happening, but it has become more important than ever to address this. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change advised that global warming must not increase more than 1.5 degrees centigrade to reduce the detrimental impact on the planet. This impact includes more heat waves, which are hotter and longer, rain and drought will be more intense and floods will be more frequent, rise in sea level will wash out some coastal regions, and further thawing of snowpack, glaciers, and ice caps. It is possible to keep global temperatures near 1.5C, however this requires much of the world to become net zero by 2050. An ambitious goal we can all work towards.

At the event, we heard from Zehra Abbas from Green Islam. Green Islam is a non-profit charity in the US and Canada, which will become a registered charity in the UK in upcoming months. Their mission is to support Muslims to re-engage and act in accordance with the ethical spirit of Islam. In her presentation, Zehra highlighted how modern consumption and other lifestyle practices are incompatible with Islamic teachings. Ultimately, Zehra highlighted how Muslims should be responsible for their climate footprint. She discussed ways to do reduce your individual carbon footprint including eating plant-based food and shopping/consuming less ‘stuff’.

You can watch my video summarising the event below:

We then had the opportunity as a group to plant cherry trees at the British Muslim Heritage Centre with City of Trees. Trees are a great way to decrease the carbon in the air, provide a food source, as well as protection from sun and other elements in poor weather. I know City of Tree aims to plant 3 million trees across Greater Manchester within five years, an ambitious goal I am proud we could be a part of.

Finally, we had guest speakers from In Our Nature MCR who discussed what local climate action can look like and projects they are involved with. This includes a community allotment in Moss Side, as well as the small community garden at the British Muslim Heritage Centre. As a group, we had the opportunity to discuss what climate action looks like to us, what challenges we face, and how we can do more as a society.

You can see some more images from the event below:

A huge thank you to all who attended my Islam and the Environment event yesterday.

The event highlighted the importance of nature in Islam, but also the work the Muslim community is doing locally to tackle climate change.

We must all work together in the climate emergency. pic.twitter.com/nmayJArq3I

— Afzal Khan MP (@AfzalKhanMCR) November 18, 2022

Looking in the future, I am excited to work more closely with local mosques on what we can do together to encourage more climate action. I also am looking forward to hosting more events in the future to discuss the climate crisis and what more can be done. If there is a climate event you’d like me to get involved with, please send me an email at afzal.khan.mp@parliament.uk