On 27 February 2007, The Straits Times published an op-ed by Hornbills’ co-founder, Sofiah Jamil. The article entitled “Not enough heat of a hot issue” discussed the lack of attention that the Muslim World has on the issue of climate change.
Many countries affected by climate change are also members of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), an international organisation of predominantly Muslim states. Environmental degradation has the potential to retard the OIC’s efforts at alleviating poverty and promoting progress in the Muslim world. Moreover, stalled economic development may feed into despair and instability in the Muslim world, which in turn may exacerbate existing political crises in the Muslim world that often hog the media limelight.
The op-ed is based on a piece written under the RSIS Commentaries series entitled Climate Change and the Muslim World: The OIC Can do with ‘Captain Planet’.