The Muslim Council of Elders, under the chairmanship of His Eminence Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, announced that four international youth projects in the realm of climate change have won awards during the Faith Pavilion at COP28. These projects emerged as winners in a competition initiated by the Council, designed for graduates of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum.
Drawing around 50 youth projects from 11 countries, the competition's objective was to bolster and motivate the youth to craft innovative and sustainable solutions to combat the climate crisis. It also aimed to empower young minds, enabling their active involvement in public discussions and decision-making processes concerning environmental policies and strategies for mitigating climate change.
Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam, the Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders, highlighted the Council's profound interest in the youth as the torchbearers of hope and peace in the world. He further underscored the Council's ongoing initiatives, actively working towards empowering youth, channeling their potential, and fostering their positive contributions to address global challenges, with a particular emphasis on climate change.
The Secretary-General elaborated on the support extended by the Muslim Council of Elders to the winning projects which aligns with the coordination of the Faith Pavilion at COP28, the first of its kind in the history of COP conferences, which is organized in collaboration with the COP28 presidency, the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence in the UAE, and the United Nations Environment Programme. The Pavilion serves as a global platform for interfaith dialogue, aiming to formulate effective solutions to the climate crisis.
The competition encompassed various domains, including climate change and climate justice. 'EmpoweHer,' the winning project from Gambia, seeks to train approximately 5,000 women by 2030 in the Konta Niang region. It focuses on the adoption and implementation of sustainable agricultural practices, targeting a 90% reduction in emissions associated with traditional agricultural systems.
In the second category, emphasizing social inclusion and empowering youth from diverse religious backgrounds to assume leadership roles in climate action, the 'Climatic Peace Initiative' emerged triumphant. This initiative aims to provide comprehensive training and guidance to youth, coupled with the necessary funding to establish climate initiatives fostering cross-cultural dialogue and addressing climate challenges.
In the capacity-building category related to education and training in climate change, promoting an entrepreneurial culture as a pathway to address climate change, an initiative from Cameroon secured the prize. The initiative seeks to fortify youth resilience in combating violent extremism by building capacities and facilitating climate actions to preserve wildlife, specifically snails, whose economic, health, and nutritional value are significant. The project focuses on identifying easy and affordable methods for cultivating them within the Cameroonian environment while empowering youth to manage this project.
Also among the winners, a project from Albania clinched an award in the category of the role of religions in addressing climate change. The project aims to raise awareness among youth of different religions regarding the environmental challenges posed by climate change and their potential role in addressing these challenges locally. It also involves engaging religious communities to collaborate on environmental protection initiatives.
The Muslim Council of Elders is organizing the Faith Pavilion at COP28 in collaboration with the COP28 Presidency, the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence in the UAE, and the United Nations Environment Programme. Held from December 1 to 12 at Expo City Dubai, the pavilion will feature representatives of nine religions participating in around 70 dialogue sessions with over 300 speakers from around the world to formulate a common vision and take a unified stance among religious leaders, scholars, environmental experts, youth, women, and representatives of indigenous peoples in addressing the adverse effects of climate change.
