Islamic Society of North America Endorses Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

With GreenFaith, Signs Interfaith Letter Calling for Managed Decline for Fossil Fuels, Just Transition

 Contact:

Islamic Society of North America – Imam Saffet Catovic, +1-202-993-8636, scatovic@isna.net

GreenFaith – Rev. Fletcher Harper, +1-201-390-0094, fletcher@greenfaith.org

Today, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) endorsed the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and called on other Muslim and religious organizations to sign an interfaith letter in support of the treaty.  ISNA was joined by GreenFaith, an international, multi-faith organization, which extended the sign-on invitation to religious groups globally.

“For too long, massive oil producers, including in Muslim nations, have endangered the future of life by preventing policies to put an end to fossil fuel extraction and production and to bring about a just transition to a sustainable future. We cannot be silent anymore because the lives of countless people, the world’s ecosystems, and the lives of future generations are at stake and we are out of time,” said Imam Saffet Catovic, Head of Interfaith and Community Alliances and Governmental Relations for ISNA. “The Maqasid al-Shari’ah, the inviolable objectives of Islam’s sacred law, makes it clear that society must protect life, family, property, and the essence of our faith through policies which enable maslaha – public welfare. Failure to establish concrete, time-bound plans to phase out fossil fuels is a violation of these moral imperatives.” (See ISNA’s full statement)

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is a civil-society initiative calling on governments to negotiate and ratify a treaty to prevent the proliferation of coal, oil and gas by ending all new exploration and production; to phase-out existing production of fossil fuels in line with the 1.5C global climate goal; and to fast-track climate solutions and a just transition for impacted workers, communities and countries.

“The Treaty represents values of compassion, love and justice in the face of a dire emergency,” said the Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director of GreenFaith.  “There is no greater moral imperative than to phase out the use of fossil fuels as rapidly as possible while investing in a rapid, just transition to universal access to clean energy. At a global scale, religious groups must embrace this call to action.”

The Dalai Lama and 100 other Nobel Prize laureates have signed a letter calling on world leaders to end the expansion of coal, oil and gas production, a central part of the Treaty. Over two thousand academics from 81 countries have delivered a letter to the United Nations General Assembly demanding a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.  Over 900 civil society organizations have also endorsed the Treaty.

GreenFaith will work with religious groups signing the multi-faith letter to engage them in local and regional campaigns opposing new fossil fuel development.  “Grassroots religious communities around the globe are standing up against the climate’s destruction,” said Harper.  “Signing the Interfaith letter in support of the Treaty is an important way to show global solidarity and to build moral power together.”