Bogor, W Java (ANTARA News) - A two-day international Muslim conference on climate change ended here on Saturday (April 9) with the issuance of a Bogor Declaration which stressed the need to prevent climate change through education.
The conference committee chairman, Ismid Hadad made the remarks here after closing the conference, adding that the conference had adopted policies to deal with climate change.
"It essentially must start with education because environmental problems are associated with scientists. We need experts and scientists who can create a way to prevent the environmental impact," he said.
According to him, one of the policies issued is the declaration on "Bogor sustainable green city" which was signed by six parties.
The six parties are the Muslim Association on Climate Change Action (MACCA),
Muhammadiyah executive board, the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (KEHATI), Conservation International-Indonesia (CI-Indonesia), and The Microturbine Cogeneration Technology Application Project (MCTAP) and the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT).
In addition, Hadad said that many other steps should be discussed by the Muslim community in preserving the environment.
The conference also formed groups of environmentalists from the Islamic states, who will voice the Muslim movement in climate change at the international level.
The conference was participated in by some 150 people from 14 countries, namely the United Arab Emirates, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Egypt, Britain, France, the US, Spain, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Ismid who is also head of the advisory board of KEHATI Foundation said around 200 environmental experts, scientists, religious clerics, organization leaders and Muslim groups including Islamic boarding schools attended the first ever Muslim conference on climate change.
He said the conference was a continuation of the agenda of the Muslim Seven Year Action Plan for Climate Change (M7YAP) declared in Istanbul, Turkey, early in June 2009.
The conference was held in cooperation with several private organizations such as Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama, the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, Kehati and the Conservation International Indonesia and supported by the ministry of forestry, the ministry of the environment, Bogor city administration, the ministry of religious affairs and the National Council on Climate Change.
