Former coal-fired Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station is seen at dawn, surrounded by cranes and with one of it's four iconic chimneys missing, in London, December 9, 2014. The decommissioned coal-fired power station, not used since 1983, is being redeveloped into retail, office and residential use over the next four years. One of the planning requirements is the preservation of the character of the original building, which involves taking down each chimney and wash tower and then rebuilding them. Reuters/Toby Melville

Islamic leaders issued a Climate Change Declaration calling for world governments to adopt a new international climate agreement that would phase out fossil fuels and limit global warming to 1.5°C to 2°C. The collective statement of the leaders from 20 countries lays out a deadline for wealthy and oil-producing nations to phase out all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The Climate Change declaration was made during the International Islamic Climate Change Symposium in Istanbul on Aug 18. The Declaration aims for a switch to 100 percent renewable energy strategy which is likely to increase pressure on Gulf States ahead of the Paris climate summit in December.

For the coming summit, Islamic leaders urge to have an agreement on emissions reduction targets, along with the increase of support for poor who are already suffering from climate impacts. The statement, written by Islamic scholars, has already been endorsed by high-ranking officials, including the Grand Muftis of Uganda and Lebanon, along with prominent Muslim scholars and teachers from around the world.

The endorsement emphasised that it is a moral imperative that people switch to clean energy. They wrote the excessive pollution from fossil fuels threatens to destroy “the gifts” given by “Allah.”

Hakima el-Haite, Morocco’s environment minister, said the declaration could aid to change mindsets and behaviours around climate change in some Gulf States. Morocco is the first and only among Middle Eastern countries to present an emissions-cutting climate pledge before the Paris summit.

“It is an emotive call for a spiritual fight against climate change that will be very important for Muslims. I think that the right way to make this sort of call is through the Qur’an,” el-Haite told the Guardian. However, an international support would be first needed to address the “financial gap” involved in transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables-based economies, she added.

“We are in danger of ending life as we know it on our planet,” they stated. The current rate of climate change cannot be sustained, and soon, the earth’s equilibrium may be lost, they added.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, also welcomed the declaration. Following the Papal Encyclical on climate change, Turkson said that the Catholic Church would work with the authors of the declaration to protect their common Earth.

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