The Department of Islamic Affairs and charitable Activities in Dubai is participating in the twenty-eighth conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change(COP28),which will be held from November 30 to December 12, 2023 at Expo City Dubai.
The participation of the department comes within the “faith Pavilion”, which is the first of its kind in the history of the conferences of the parties, organized by the Council of Muslim elders in cooperation with the cop28 presidency, the Ministry of tolerance and coexistence and the United Nations Environment Agency.
Under the chairmanship of H. E. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of tolerance and coexistence, H. E. Ahmed Darwish Al Muhairi, Director General of the Department, witnessed the official opening ceremony of the pavilion, which was held yesterday, Sunday, December 3, 2023, at the leaders building in Expo City Dubai, in the presence of H. E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, president-designate of the cop28 Conference of the parties in the UAE, H. E. Mohammed Abdul Salam, secretary-general of the Council of Muslim elders, and some religious leaders from Al-Azhar and the Vatican Church.
His Excellency Ahmed Darwish Al Muhairi, Director General of the Department, delivered a focused speech on Islam’s concern for the environment and climate, reviewed the guidance of the Quranic verses and the hadiths of the prophet in protecting the land and the environment and warning against spoiling it, and then reviewed some of the efforts of the wise leadership of the state in this important aspect until the country turned from an arid desert to a fruitful singing garden.
His Excellency stressed that the Department of Islamic Affairs and charitable Activities is part of the state and the emirate’s system, so it has made climate protection its goal by reducing the waste of water in the places of mosques, planting their courtyards, reducing electricity consumption as needed, as well as the green construction of some mosques and seeks to expand them in the future.
It is also concerned with educating the community about the guidance of Islam in maintaining a healthy, good and beneficial climate, through lessons, collection speeches, seminars and lectures, so that society of all categories will fulfill its duty towards our good climate to be pure, healthy and healthy
The Department’s participation in these international conferences is part of its efforts to spread and sustain Islamic values by promoting joint work and exchanging experiences at the local, regional and global levels.