COTABATO CITY (PNA) — A forum focusing on the vulnerability to climate change of coastal communities in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was held in Manila on Tuesday, with inputs from last April’s “First International Conference on Muslim Action on Climate Change” in Indonesia thrown in.
Quoting studies on the Philippines, Amina Rasul, president of the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID), said “many areas that are highly vulnerable to projected temperature increases, impacts of El Niño events, salt-water intrusion, and sea level rise are in Muslim Mindanao.”
The forum was also meant to respond to the Muslim Seven Year Action Plan for Climate Change (M7YAP) that was crafted in Istanbul, Turkey in June 2009 for all Muslim countries, according to the Muslim youth leader.
Rasul cited studies by Greenpeace and the National Statistics Coordination Board (NCSB) showing that ARMM is ranked first among all regions in terms of vulnerability to a one-meter rise in sea level.
Sulu in particular is the most vulnerable province in the country in terms of vulnerability to a one-meter rise in sea level, she said.
The international conference in Bogor, West Java from April 8 to 10 was part of the action plan, said Rasul, who was a resource speaker along with Dr. Filemon G. Romero, professor of Oceanography of Environmental Science of the Mindanao State University in Tawi-Tawi.
About 200 environment experts, academics, and clerics from 30 countries with Muslim population, such as the United Arab Emirates, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, India, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Egypt, Britain, Indonesia, and the Philippines attended the conference.
Climate change is increasingly seen as the most critical challenge facing the world today.
The Islamic world is particularly vulnerable to climate change because of the effects of rising sea levels, with their effects on Muslims living in coastal communities.
Patterns of drought and rainfall are also expected to change, with enormous consequences for human populations, according to Rasul.
“With the more than five million Muslims that are in harm’s way, there is a need to engage and mobilize scientists, scholars and environmental organizations to conduct research and information and education activities on climate change and environmental sustainability,” she added.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/276167/armm-areas-vulnerable-sea-level-rise-pcid---
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