http://Muhammad_Mukhtar_Alam.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://Muhammad_Mukhtar_Alam.tigblog.org/post/454251
Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam©

Climate change as an impact of the globalisation of non-renewable energy based habitats, consumption, production and transportation

Natural disasters and man made disasters have been feared and has been the reason of the destruction of civilisations. Deluge occurring as a curse of God for rebellion against the commands of Almighty has been mentioned in the holy texts. Climate Change caused primary due to emission of green house gas emissions appears to heralding a series of disasters for mankind across the world. The loss of agricultural lands, forest cover is an outcome of globalisation of industrial production processes based on non-renewable resources based Climate change is an outcome of the attempts for globalisation of non-renewable resource based urban habitats. Renewable energy is the future as it has been the key source for millennia. There is need to secure protection of the social futures across the word from the ecological disasters that are man made. There is a need to reduce the consumption of GHG emitting fossil fuel based services and utilities.

The detailed version of the the paper on faith based solutions and governance framework for mitigating the climate change considers the fact that non-renewable resource based energy does not have future and it has assessment of responses to climate change are being made, assessments of the instruments for mitigating the impacts of climates, analysis of hurdles faced in the implementation of the Kyoto protocol emission targets and addresses the constraints in the development strategy and proposal for ecologically sustainable development strategy. The author calls for adoption of ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance framework for ecologically sustainability and socially equity. He also called for Innovative faith based strategies for reducing the emission of green house gases and other systemic factors associated with ecologically hostile development paradigm.

Change in the climate with rise in temperature of earth, change in rainfall patterns is caused due to emission of gases that is raising the temperature of earth as the amount of green house gases generated is much more than the capacity of the green cover for absorbing. Impacts are being felt everywhere beyond the national boundaries. There are several recorded evidences that has caused nations to take on the challenge of global warming .UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change has been meeting and deliberating on the issue. There are several national responses and international agreements. Recently China and US has expressed agreement work on climate change. Speaking on occasion of APEC summit in Sydney, Australia Mr. Hu Jintao maintained that “the United Nations Framework convention should remain the main channel for the international efforts” to address climate change” .

The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which emphasised the far-reaching consequences that continued global warming would have across the world, has given fresh impetus to finding solution to the problem. The summit meeting of the Group of Eight industrialised countries (G8) held in Germany in the month of June 2007 agreed to launch new initiatives for collective action by both rich nations and fast-growing developing countries to combat climate change. In its Fourth Assessment Report, the IPCC, the international body that has the task of weighing scientific evidence on climate change, pointed to definitive evidence that global atmospheric concentration of key greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide had “increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750”. These gases were trapping the Earth’s heat that would otherwise have radiated out into space. If the build-up of greenhouse gases and the resultant warming of the planet were allowed to continue unchecked, the humanity collectively will have to face several consequences. Droughts and desertification are among the impacts of climate change. The position paper is focusing on the challenges and offers solutions for halting the impacts of climate change through adoption of measures including the faith based personal responses for transformation of ecologically hostile consumption, production, leisure use patterns.

Lots of seminars and conferences have been organized for addressing the global challenge. There are Kyoto protocol emission targets for which national strategies have been devised. Kyoto Protocol formally known as UN Framework Conventions on Climate Change has not been ratified by some of the important nations. U.S. and Australia are not ratifying the protocol as they have perceptions of competitive disadvantage. There are agreements for reducing the emissions by the year 2020 and 2050. There exists a vibrant mobilization of civil society and mobilization of youth groups. Several groups are working for the policy advocacy for implementing the binding targets for the emission of green house gases. There also exists a dynamic policy advocacy for RD in renewable energy so that there is plenty of renewable resource based energy for replacing the non-renewable energy. Green parties existing in more than 88 countries are calling for replacement for greenhouse generating fossil fuel based energy sources with renewable energy.

Gavin Edwards head of Climate and Energy Campaign, Greenpeace International talking about what the governments across the world can do to mitigate the problem pointed out the need to reconsider terms of protocol that acknowledges the differentiated responsibility for the various nations responding to the climate change. He points out the need for the developing countries to do all the needful and not repeat the mistakes of the developed countries - “nongovernmental organisations have really focussed on the industrialised nations that have to do lions share of tackling the climate change-that’s is clear. But what is also clear is that developing countries like India and China constantly continue developing with the business as usual old style development approach. They could be repeating the same mistakes the West has made in the last few decades .And, if India, China and other countries continue to make those mistakes, then regardless of what the West is doing to tackle the climate change it will be impossible” .

The instruments advocated for mitigating the climate change

Energy efficient technologies are being developed for minimizing the consumption of the energy. CFL lamps are being promoted as part of energy efficient utilities and equipments for contributing in the reduction of green house gas emissions. There also goals for replacement of non-renewable energy throng renewable energy .Green party in Germany seek full scale replacement of non-renewable energy by renewable energy by the year 2020. There are treaties that have been signed though they are not religiously followed. More funding is being sought for research for globalizing renewable energy based services and utilities. Binding targets on emission reduction is not there as is evident from the aspirational recommendation of the APEC summit concluded recently in Sydney as part of the processes for the UN framework convention on climate change to be held in Bali in the month of December 2007. There are plans of Action devoid of binding policies and target for the emission of green house gases.

Problems in the strategies

There are strategies that have been identified with global recognition of the need to reduce green house emissions. Even so, they get defeated as goals are set with contradicting outcomes and visions .For example, GDP calculation does not consider the impact on environment and ecological costs and thus are not therefore factors in the calculation of Gross Domestic Product. Enormous costs on environments are ignored following the conviction that all the resources are for the use and their non-utilisation is an indicator of low technological development. An ecologically sustainable habitat is not considered valuable with ecologically sustainable livelihoods. Quarterly reporting on the increase in the GDP does not factor the increase in green house gas emissions. 7th Generation Initiative in Canada with wellbeing measurement Act in an initiative for factoring the ecological costs and cost of women's work at home. They believe that calculation of gross domestic product must include the cost on the environment that our actions in the present have www.sustainwellbeing.net. Mike Nickerson and Joe Jordon have been campaigning for years.

Political parties continue to be inspired by short term visions and it is not quite their fault. SIMPOL is working with the voters globally for influencing the simultaneous adoption of policies. There is need to ensure more and more simultaneous actions globally for peaceful actions, decisions, choices that will contribute in collective ecological safety. Political parties need to be educated for supporting the policies that ensure protection of ecologically sustainable livelihoods and habitats. Labour League Foundation ,Sufi Trust and CEASIG has been part of National Forum of Forest Workers and Forest People supporting the rights of land in their traditional habitats through deleting the impact of colonial legislations that deprived them their rights to homestead and agriculture lands. Green parties are concerned about the ecologically safe issues but their voters are few .Most of the political parties are concerned with issues that are more appealing to the elite and the middle class in the immediate present.

Another major hurdle experienced in the way of getting global responses for mitigating the climate change is continued marketing of fossil fuel intensive consumption patterns, urban habitats designs, development paradigm, competitive nationalisms for seeking the markers of fossil fuel intensive lifestyles, devaluation of the ecologically sustainable agriculture consumption patterns. There exists continued political support for cultural products and processes that are inimical to national and global ecological safety. While there are measures for ecological impact/ environment impact assessments but then there markedly exists absence of concerns for addressing the root causes of ecological and man made disasters. Marginalisation of the faith based groups by the atheistic intelligentsia continues to be problem that needs to be addressed as they need to be brought on board with much more dynamism for addressing the global and local challenges.

An Ecologically safe national strategy/ development paradigm can be considered containing the following features:

1. Marketing of ecologically safe consumption ,production, leisure use patterns
2. Discouraging ecologically hostile consumption and production patterns
3. Promotion of neighbourhood trade and education and discouraging ecologically hostile trade and education
4. Ecologically sustainable agriculture
5. Promotion of ecologically sustainable transport Systems
6. Faith based measures for transformation of leisure use pattern
7. Promotion and protection of ecologically sustainable habitats
8. ecologically safe interest free and debt free finance system
9. Ecologically safe models of success

Towards a solution

Reduction in the emission of green house gases through promoting measures and decision patterns that moderate the consumption of services and utilities based on the consumption of green house emitting fossil fuels is critical that all concerned with safeguarding the humanity from the negative impacts of climate change. Following diagram attempts to demonstrate the impact and relations that adoption of prayer 5 times a day on the consumption patterns. Men and women following the commands for prayer 5 times are not likely to indulge in consumption of lots of evening post work engagements that require long distance travels as this would interfere in observance of the command for prayer /salah at the appointed hours. It can be easily seen that adoption of this command will ensure transformation of lots of consumption of fossil fuel intensive leisure such as going to bar and dancing halls. This can be adopted along with several other personal and community responses for reducing the emission of green houses. Faith based responses appear to be more effective and they need to be promoted as for this there is no need to make additional efforts. Association of ‘conservatism’ appears to be more one of the response that some men and women may have for communication of faith based measures. But then it is important to see the importance of the adoption of faith based measure for ecological efficacy, safety, suitability, desirability and validity. Faith based responses are common and they just need to be promoted for their contribution in the ecological wellbeing at the personal, community, social, national and global levels. There is an urgent need for the same.


Personal faith based responses are critical for minimising the emission of green house gases. Prayer 5 times a day for transforming leisure use pattern recognising that leisure use patterns are one of the key social engagements that consume most of the fossil fuel based services and utilities .Command for prayer is common across the religious texts though it appears most prominently practiced by men and women following the communications of Muhammad , believed to be the last messenger by Muslims (men and women submitting to the will of God/Allah/../.
Men and women practicing prayer (salah in Arabic) do not visit dancing halls and bars as they are more concerned about praying in time. Prayer in the afternoon, after sunset and then prayer after dinner in the mosques makes them bound to focus on the necessary work only. Prayer and remembrance for them is a mean of relaxation, stress busting, socialization, and communion and so on. S/he concentrates on the essential matters in the neighbourhood and cares for them as commanded through the messengers. Secondly, they abstain from exhibitionist consumption following the command of Allah for not transgressing the bounds/limits set by Allah. For dressing they believe that the best dress is that of piety determined by the extent to which they follow the commands of Allah. They abstain from adultery following the commands against the same as they believe in upholding the best standards of peaty. They seek forgiveness from Allah for the sinful deeds executed intentionally or unintentionally. Thus adoption of prayer 5 times a day works as a guard for all the behaviours that have been prohibited in the holy books across the religions.They donate out of the sustenance for poor following the commands for zakat, khairat, fitra and sadaqah. They do not waste and thus observe the best of the ideals communicated through the slogan of ‘waste not, want not’. They indulge in ecologically safe consumption and believe in moderation in all matters. The middle path communicated through the commands of Allah is best ensured through the adoption of compulsory prayers 5 times a day. Men and men following the commands in Shiv Sankalp Taru for remembrance of Ishwar are likely to have the similar best behaviour patterns that are ecologically safe. Their average ecological footprints are likely to be very low. This needs to be established with communication of more ecological audits/ water audits/green audits/ energy audits/ paper audits/ food intake audits- a series of audits that men and women following the command of Allah perform or they are supposed to perform. They ensure more and more pious behaviour, consumption and production patterns. Centre for Ecological Audit, Inclusion and Governance would like to promote generation of more pious responses as they are directly linked to reduction in the emission of green house gases.

Inter faith commons

Centre for Ecological Audit, Inclusion and Governance(CEASIG) believes in the inter faith commons that need to be communicated and disseminated for not only global integration but also for addressing the critical ecological challenge that we as part of humanity face . Global warming is no longer a concern of a particular nations but it is an issue that we all as part of humanity face. Inter faith commons need to bring to the fore for understanding that we have common monotheistic content and messengers who upheld the best standards of justice, communication, and struggle in their life time and fought men and women after utilizing the best means of persuasion. Shiv Sankalp Taru has a very interesting verse that needs to be brought in light for men and women who have special affinity for the Sanskrit textual tradition. The timings are very much common to the timing followed by the Muslims. It is a command that needs to be followed by all. Muslims already follow that following the communication of God/BRAHMM communicated through the last messenger while believing that commands were communicated through all the messengers earlier in various languages and lands. They need to know more and more that the commands followed by Muslims are the commands that were communicated through the earlier messengers also. Muslims rightly believe that messengers were sent to all the lands to people who spoke various languages following the related verse in the holy Qur’an. Commands in Shiv Sankalp Taru “Ishwar smarate panch awasare” calls for remembrance of Ishwar who was neither born nor gave on five occasions in a day, every day-all the 365/366 days of the year.

Establish prayer at the appointed hours 5 times (The Holy Qur’an).According to one count there are command for establishing salah and give zakat more that 54 times in the holy Qur’an. There are commands in Bible and Torah. Buddhist monotheistic tradition calls for fighting the ‘mara’ in the Dhammapada and the atheistic understanding calls for adoption of middle path in all the matters. Practice of meditation leads to transformation of consumption patterns. Gurus in the Sikhism and Jain traditions are examples of austere life filled with prayer and penance. Guru Nanak was a practitioner of prayer and remembrance and he is revered for that and followed by millions of Sikhs around the world. For Sikhs, it is not impossible to follow the best practices of Guru Nanak who established himself as a role model for millions of Sikhs around the world. Following table shows the interfaith commons that can be adopted all. This is being proposed considering the absence of coherent strategy in the atheistic post-modern discourse and contingencies of the global emergencies that must be addressed.


Some key ecologically sensitive commands Islam Christianity Monotheistic Brahmanism Sikhism Judaism Buddhism Jainism
Prevention of usury √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Prohibition of adultery and homosexuality √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Propagation of austerity √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Protection of the institution of family √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Command for donating for the poor √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Command for prayer √ √ √ √ √ √ √



How an ecologically sustainable / contended reverent economy does is built up with happiness for all

Ecological economists are currently debating issues with the Washington consensus economist and fighting the TINA (there is no alternative) syndrome .Noam Chomsky believes in the alternative economic order and so do youths of the world who through their calls are wanting to see the change and taking up non-violent advocacy and communication for the needful change . He also believes in the alternative political and cultural order .Binary economists are calling for abolition of interest charged on the loans as they believe creation of money from thin air in the books of the bankers is responsible for lots of ecologically hostile and socially inequitable practices in consumption, production and distribution and leisure use patterns www.binaryeconomics.org .

Elimination of usury, fiat money propelling the ecologically hostile growth of urban habitats is being pointed out to be a critical factor in building a socially inclusive and ecologically safe economy. Similarly, debt free credit /interest free loans are being promoted for zero debt distressed suicides and bankruptcies.

Another major feature of contented and ecological sustainable economy is its capacity and intent for the protection of ecologically sustainable habitats with renewable resource based life support systems. It is simply impossible to envisage sustainability of non-renewable based transport systems in perpetuity. Search for nuclear energy and intense research activity in the renewable resource based energy is a proof for this. It needs to be noted that while nuclear energy in the short run appears to be carbon neutral, but in the long run, this is also not sustainable as there are limited resources for running the reactors. It is clear that resources such as uranium and thorium are not for all the time in the future. Therefore, the only solution is to decelerate and regulate the consumption of non-renewable resource based services and utilities.

1. Debt free money and interest free loans with public control on the creation of money
2. Rights to renewable resource based habitats
3. Ecologically sustainable leisure use patterns
4. Distributive justice for renewable resource based livelihoods
5. Freedom from worried of energy crisis
6. Protection of Renewable resource based livelihoods

Freedom from worries of energy crisis affecting energy intensive transportation systems and habitats is an essential constituent of an ecologically sustainable and socially equitable economy .At present most of the planners are concerned with the increasing energy requirements and for this some countries are ready to sacrifice their ideals and foundations of foreign policy. Left parties in India along with other parties have been vociferously opposing the loss of independence in the foreign policy of India. It is important to ensure sustainability for the renewable resource based life support systems and for this it is important to halt the loss of ecologically sustainable habitats and agricultural production methodologies. It is not possible to ensure sustainability for habitat designs that are based on unsustainable energy sources. Therefore, it is not possible to ensure sustainability for skyscraper laden urban habitats. Urban areas with shopping malls will no longer expand and remain within ecologically sustainable limits. For this to happen, it is important to support adoption of ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance framework proposed by several organisations.

Creating debt free money and ensuring interest free loans in not quite easy as that requires change of hearts and minds of men and women governing the various institutions who find the proposals difficult. Success of the proposals for ecologically sustainable and socially equitable economy and polity requires multiplication of men and women who uphold the criterion of piety. It is important that the pious men and women across the world prohibiting peacefully what is wrong and prescribing what is right take charge of the governance and ensure that debt free money is created, faith based measures are adopted for mitigating the impacts of climate change. It is important to understand the need to prepare for life after death as that would impel men and women to adopt faith based measures more and more. Now, the signs of ecological distress are too compelling to avoid collective and personal actions for both mitigating and halting the impacts of climate change. It is not the after death concerns that are important but signs of ecological distress affecting the lives of billions that are clear indicators for change and taking corrective action locally and globally. Youths and corporations who are market for non-renewable energy intensive services and utilities need to be in charge. No longer, atheistic postmodernist notions of laissez faire regimen of cultural, political and moral governance can be encouraged to further damage the survival interests of the billions in here and now and that of future generations.

Hurdles in the way/ constraints

There are hurdles in the way for such a massive change taking place simultaneously and globally and most pernicious among the faith based notions are that of neo-liberal atheistic ideology where market and profit devoid of the concerns of eternal interests of mankind are permitted to have full freedom. It is the anti-church and anti-Islamic communications that are the major hurdles in the way of change. It is dominance of atheistic neo-liberal ideology that prevents men and women from adopting the faith based pious measures for addressing the global and local challenges. Media channels such as MTV with adoring participation of youths indoctrinated in the atheistic visions of good life are busy in creating models of copy cat consumption and leisure use patterns globally with local vernacular channels following in line. Starting with English music content in 90’s now MTV has more of Hindi songs and dance forms with direct message for youths for copying the ecologically leisure use pattern including partying ,dancing and drinking of intoxicating drinks.

The second hurdle is the lack on coherent national and international policy with respect to addressing the climate change. While Kyoto protocol emission target call for reduction in the emission of green house gases, national development strategies continue to be inspired by the perception of competitive disadvantage. It is dangerous to have such incoherence for long time as the assessments of climate scientists are too compelling. Speaking on the occasion of a meeting to the launch the full report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the impacts of global warming, Professor Martin Parry, a climate scientist with MET office in UK and co-chairman of the working group for the report said, “We are all used to talking about the impact of these changes coming in the lifetime of our children and grand children. Now we know that it is us.” He added that politicians had wasted a decade in focussing on ways to cut emissions, and had woken up recently to the need to adapt. He felt that “mitigation has got all the attention, but we cannot mitigate out of this problem. We have now a choice between a damaged world and a severely damaged world”. (The Hindu 20 September 2007)

The hurdle can be seen through assessing the levels of convergence for the various agencies and their functioning. While there are calls for higher rates of growth, they are not assessed in the light of the demands of ecological sustainability. Even the promotion of indexes such as “sustainability index” is not getting the required attention and it has been left to the discretion of the nations. There are evidences of lack of interagency cooperation and United National Development Programme (UNDP) appears to be working against the mandate of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Environment assessments /ministries are slighted for benefiting ecologically hostile proposals/ policies. More often than not considerations of ecological sustainability are ignored for sanctioning ecologically hostile projects. This is evident from the sanction of Special Economic Zones despite the resistance of farmers in India as they did not want to give up on their only source of ecologically sustainable livelihoods through farming.

Therefore there is a need to institute a governance framework that is both ecologically safe and socially inclusive with reference to poor, old, children and women, ethnic and religious groups residing both in rural and urban habitats.

Labour League Foundation through considers the need for establishing ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance with the following features

1. A governance that is cognizant of the needs of poor, rights of farmers and villages to ecologically sustainable livelihoods and habitats
2. Governance that eliminates fictitious inflationary money responsible for expansion of ecologically hostile habitats
3. Governance that promotes pious and ecologically safe consumption and production pattern
4. A government that plans for ecologically safe disaster free future for all
5. Governance that ensure ecologically safe distribution of natural resources
6. Governance that works for the interests of all
7. Governance that ensures policy making for the rights of children, future generations and poor


Ecologically sustainable and socially inclusive strategies include Multiplication of carbon neutral neighbourhood discussions across the cities and villages ,Multiplication of ecologically safe responses through promotion of green journalism, catalysing green politics, transformation of leisure use patterns ,calculation of ecological footprints, eliminating ecological rucksacks, ecological Audit of the consumption patterns, production patterns, Ecological Audit of the transport patterns, Ecological Audit of the leisure use patterns, Interfaith dialogue for addressing the climate change, farmer’s suicides, and social security for workers in unorganized sector, transforming finance sector through appreciation of the common commands for prayer, donation, compassion, charity and prohibition of usury, adultery, and homosexuality, National/ regional/ city/ village based conventions on Inter Faith common responses for addressing the climate change, carbon neutral Youth colloquiums / meetings / Majlis-e-Naujawan/ Yuva Harit Bharat Sabha/../../

Conclusion:

Imagining the responses of the weaker species in the face of man made onslaughts on the non-renewable resources , many youths across the world recognise the threats represented through the expression of anguish of the billions of poor who are angry, dispossessed and seeking an end to the process of non-renewable resource based usurious finance fuelled expansion of consumption and production pattern that is causing serious loss of livelihood for millions across the Earth and call upon all the governments, civil society organisations, corporations engaged in ecologically hostile production processes to boycott the ecologically hostile usurious finance and prevent further loss of ecologically sustainable habitats that are an immediate outcome of the expansion of ecologically hostile non-renewable resource based habitats. Nations need to compete in establishing the models of ecologically safe economy, polity and culture. Youth of the world are ready to become a leader along with Muslims, Greens and men and women of the world who wish to halt the political expansion of the atheistic neo-liberal ideology that is responsible for exacerbating the ecological distress demonstrated through the increased incidence of drought and expansion of deserts causing suffering for millions. Adaptation is the weakest response and youths call for halting the negative impacts of climate change. Nothing is impossible.

CEASIG, AN ORGANIZATION DEVOTED TO MULTIPLYING RESPONSES WITHIN AND ACROSS THE NATION/S FOR MITIGATING THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE



C/O- LABOUR LEAGUE FOUNDATION, 62-A, DDA FLATS, ASHOK VIHAR –III, DELHI-110052
Telephone: +9968345380
Email: ceasig@gmail.com

]]> Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:30:00 EDT http://Muhammad_Mukhtar_Alam.tigblog.org/post/454251 28.6 77.228.677.2 http://Muhammad_Mukhtar_Alam.tigblog.org/post/454241 The Oceanic group and Radiance Media in collaboration with India Habitat centre organised an interactive seminar on renewable energy and climate change on 5 august 2008 at Gulmohar Hall India Habitat Centre. Ambassador Nigam Prakash, chairperson of Radiance media welcomed all. Prof. Anand Patwardhan, Executive Director, technology Information forecasting and Assessment Council chaired the meeting.

Ms. Alexis Ringwald, former Fulbright scholar shared her paper on renewable energy trends in India. She described per capita emissions in India in comparison with the rest of the world.

Mr. David Moosa Pidcock, a technologist with London based Technology Relocation services and Safe Energy Devises and System (SEEDS) introduced technologies for weather modification, magnetic technologies for treatment of water, seeds for enhancing productivity and production of algae from sequestered carbon dioxide.

Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar Alam, Executive Director Centre for Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance and Chairman of Labour League Foundation Delhi spoke on the faith based response and governance for mitigating climate change. His presentation included detailed narration on the impact of climate change caused by the globalisation of non-resource based consumption, production and transport patterns, national and international response, problems in the strategies for mitigating the climate change, impact of the faith based responses on consumption patterns, global imperative of adoption of eco-friendly inter-faith commons such as command for prayer, protection of the institution of family, care of orphans, elderly and women, donation, austerity, piety, honesty, compassion and commands against usury, homosexuality and adultery.

He highlighted the fact that rebellion against the commands were exacerbating ecological distress and called for adoption of the commands for transforming leisure use pattern, eliminating inflationary and ecologically hostile finance system, minimising incidence of AIDs and other diseases, promoting stable families for secure childhoods. On behalf of CEASIG, a collaborative projective of Sewa, Labour League Foundation and Sufi Trust, he described the existing / proposed work in this regard. Work included organising carbon neutral neighbourhood discussions and multiplying communication for the same across the villages and cities so that transitoriness of the non-renewable resource based consumption, production, transportation is known by all and required responses for eliminating personal contributions to the emission of green house gases are made. Proposed work included conduct of ecological audit for consumption, leisure, travel, production, organising interfaith dialogue for adoption of interfaith commons and shaping the governance for the same for addressing climate change, reforming fiancé sector, securing children from AIDS, ensuring stable families for happy childhoods.

Dr. PP Sangal, former director of Centralian Statistical Organisation described in details the features of Indian Climate Action Plan. He appreciated the fact that India needed emissions for growth but at the same time wished to work on reducing the emissions. He called for contributing the detailed missions that were decided in the documents and ministries had been asked to prepared detailed action plan for all the missions. The interventions were responded with lots of appreciation for the presentation for Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam who called for personal conduct of ecological audits across the board and adoption of interfaith commons.

Mr.Ajit Kumar , the president of the Oceanic groups shared the concluding remarks while announcing the next seminar. Mr.Athar Haque of Radiance Media offered the vote of thanks to all the participants and speakers in the seminar.
]]> Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:11:00 EDT http://Muhammad_Mukhtar_Alam.tigblog.org/post/454241 28.6 77.228.677.2 http://Muhammad_Mukhtar_Alam.tigblog.org/post/376155 Droughts and desertification as impact of climate change

Droughts have been a cause of concern in all part of the world for centuries. There are references for the same in the holy texts such as the holy Torah, the Bible and the holy Qur’an. Yusuf/Joseph, the youngest son of Yaqoob/Jacob, the messenger of Allah/God has recorded to have advised the king of Egypt for preparing for the drought years on the basis of a dream that the King saw and mentioned to former prisoner living with Joseph (peace be upon him). King acted upon the interpretation of his dream provided by Joseph (peace be upon him) and prepared for 7 years of drought. Similarly, desertification has been a process that has been recorded as one of the process that has been on in various parts of world. Droughts are marked by the absence of rain or inadequate rain that is responsible for loss of crops or inadequate crop yield causing a serious concern for food. Desertification is linked with loss of agricultural habitats. The loss of agricultural lands, forest cover is an outcome of globalisation of industrial production processes based on non-renewable resources based resources. Climate change is an outcome of the globalisation of non-renewable resource based urban habitats. Drought is, among other factors, responsible for soil degradation. It has been also established that desertification increases the effect of green house gas emissions. There is thus a relation of cause and effect between climatic change and desertification.


The focus of the youth position paper on drought and desertification therefore is on the following:

1. Assessment of responses to climate change are being made,
2. assessments of the instruments for mitigating the impacts of climates,
3. hurdles faced in the implementation of the Kyoto protocol emission targets
4. Constraints in the development strategy and proposal for ecologically sustainable development strategy
5. Call for adoption of ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance framework for ecologically sustainability and socially equity
6. Innovative faith based strategies
7. Youth Strategies

Change in the climate with rise in temperature of earth, change in rainfall patterns is caused due to emission of green house gases that raise the temperature of earth as the amount of green house gases generated is much more than the capacity of the green cover for absorbing. Impacts of the climate change are being felt everywhere beyond the national boundaries. There are several recorded evidences that has caused nations to take on the challenge of global warming .UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change has been meeting and deliberating on the issue. There are several national responses and international agreements. Recently China and U.S. has expressed agreement to work on climate change. Speaking on occasion of APEC summit in Sydney, Australia Mr. Hu Jintao maintained that “the United Nations Framework convention should remain the main channel for the international efforts” to address climate change” .

The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which emphasised the far-reaching consequences that continued global warming would have across the world, has given fresh impetus to finding solution to the problem. The summit meeting of the Group of Eight industrialised countries (G8) held in Germany in the month of June 2007 agreed to launch new initiatives for collective action by both rich nations and fast-growing developing countries to combat climate change. In its Fourth Assessment Report, the IPCC, the international body that has the task of weighing scientific evidence on climate change, pointed to definitive evidence that global atmospheric concentration of key greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide had “increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750”. These gases were trapping the Earth’s heat that would otherwise have radiated out into space. If the build-up of greenhouse gases and the resultant warming of the planet were allowed to continue unchecked, the humanity collectively will have to face several consequences. Droughts and desertification are among the impacts of climate change. The position paper is focusing on the challenges and offers solutions for halting the impacts of climate change through adoption of measures including the faith based personal responses for transformation of ecologically hostile consumption, production and leisure use patterns.

Progress so far

Lots of seminars and conferences have been organized for addressing the global challenge. There are Kyoto protocol emission targets for which national strategies have been devised. Kyoto Protocol formally known as UN Framework Conventions on Climate Change has not been ratified by some of the important nations. U.S. and Australia are not ratifying the protocol as they have perceptions of competitive disadvantage. There are agreements for reducing the emissions by the year 2020 and 2050. There exists a vibrant mobilization of civil society and mobilization of youth groups. Several groups are working for the policy advocacy for implementing the binding targets for the emission of green house gases. There also exists a dynamic policy advocacy for RD in renewable energy so that there is plenty of renewable resource based energy for replacing the non-renewable energy. Green parties existing in more than 88 countries are calling for replacement for greenhouse generating fossil fuel based energy sources with renewable energy.

UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been awarded Nobel Prize along with Robert Al Gore for working on the climate change. The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited the recipients “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man made climate change and to lay foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such a change” . Mr .Al Gore responded to the citation saying “we face a truly planetary emergency: the climate change is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all humanity” . Mr.R.K. Pachaury sharing the prize with Robert Al Gore as Chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on climate change responded that the Nobel Peace prize would add sense of urgency to the fight against global warming. IPCC, set up in 1988, is tasked with giving policymakers a summary of the latest knowledge about climate change. Gavin Edwards head of Climate and Energy Campaign, Greenpeace International talking about what the governments across the world can do to mitigate the problem pointed out the need to reconsider terms of protocol that acknowledges the differentiated responsibility for the various nations responding to the climate change. He points out the need for the developing countries to do all the needful and not repeat the mistakes of the developed countries - “nongovernmental organisations have really focussed on the industrialised nations that have to do lion’s share of tackling the climate change-that’s clear. But what is also clear is that developing countries like India and China constantly continue developing with the business as usual old style development approach. They could be repeating the same mistakes the West has made in the last few decades .And, if India, China and other countries continue to make those mistakes, then regardless of what the West is doing to tackle the climate change it will be impossible” .

The instruments advocated for mitigating the climate change

Energy efficient technologies are being developed for minimizing the consumption of the energy. CFL lamps are being promoted as part of energy efficient utilities and equipments for contributing in the reduction of green house gas emissions. There also goals for replacement of non-renewable energy throng renewable energy .Green party in Germany seek full scale replacement of non-renewable energy by renewable energy by the year 2020. There are treaties that have been signed though they are not religiously followed. More funding is being sought for research for globalizing renewable energy based services and utilities. Binding targets on emission reduction is not there as is evident from the aspirational recommendation of the APEC summit concluded recently in Sydney as part of the processes for the UN framework convention on climate change to be held in Bali in the month of December 2007. There are plans of Action devoid of binding policies and target for the emission of green house gases.

If the build-up of greenhouse gases and the resultant warming of the planet was allowed to continue unchecked, we will collectively have consequences in terms of the loss of the ecologically sustainable livelihoods, habitats, crop failures, inequitable distribution of the ecologically safe habitats across the world. It is well-known that global economic boom is accelerating green house gas emissions with the ever expanding non-renewable energy based urban habitats, consumption, production and transport patterns.

Problems in the strategies

There are strategies that have been identified with global recognition of the need to reduce green house emissions. Even so, they get defeated as goals are set with contradicting outcomes and visions .For example, GDP calculation does not consider the impact on environment and ecological costs and thus are not therefore factors in the calculation of Gross Domestic Product. Enormous costs on environments are ignored following the conviction that all the resources are for the use and their non-utilisation is an indicator of low technological development. An ecologically sustainable habitat is not considered valuable with ecologically sustainable livelihoods. Quarterly reporting on the increase in the GDP does not factor the increase in green house gas emissions. 7th Generation Initiative in Canada with wellbeing measurement Act in an initiative for factoring the ecological costs and cost of women's work at home www.sustainwellbeing.net . They believe that calculation of gross domestic product must include the cost on the environment that our actions in the present have www.sustainwellbeing.net. Mike Nickerson and Joe Jordon have been campaigning for years.

Political parties continue to be inspired by short term visions and it is not quite their fault. SIMPOL is working with the voters globally for influencing the simultaneous adoption of policies. There is need to ensure more and more simultaneous actions globally for peaceful actions, decisions, choices that will contribute in collective ecological safety. Political parties need to be educated for supporting the policies that ensure protection of ecologically sustainable livelihoods and habitats. Labour League Foundation ,Sufi Trust and CEASIG as part of National Forum of Forest Workers and Forest People supporting the rights of land in their traditional habitats through deleting the impact of colonial legislations that deprived them their rights to homestead and agriculture lands. Green parties are concerned about the ecologically safe issues but their voters are few .Most of the political parties are concerned with issues that are more appealing to the elite and the middle class in the immediate present.

Another major hurdle experienced in the way of getting global responses for mitigating the climate change is continued marketing of fossil fuel intensive consumption patterns, urban habitats designs, development paradigm, competitive nationalisms for seeking the markers of fossil fuel intensive lifestyles, devaluation of the ecologically sustainable agriculture consumption patterns. There exists continued political support for cultural products and processes that are inimical to national and global ecological safety. While there are measures for ecological impact/ environment impact assessments but then there markedly exists absence of concerns for addressing the root causes of ecological and man made disasters. Marginalisation of the faith based youth groups by the atheistic intelligentsia continues to be problem that needs to be addressed .They need to be brought on board .

Ecologically safe national strategy/ development paradigm

Considering the above, it is proposed that an ecologically safe national strategy/ development paradigm contains the following features:

1. Marketing of ecologically safe consumption ,production, leisure use patterns
2. Discouraging ecologically hostile consumption and production patterns
3. Promotion of neighbourhood trade and education and discouraging ecologically hostile trade and education
4. Ecologically sustainable agriculture
5. Promotion of ecologically sustainable transport Systems
6. Faith based measures for transformation of leisure use pattern
7. Promotion and protection of ecologically sustainable habitats
8. ecologically safe interest free and debt free finance system
9. Ecologically safe models of success





Towards a solution

Reduction in the emission of green house gases through promoting measures and decision patterns that moderate the consumption of services and utilities based on the consumption of green house emitting fossil fuels is critical that all concerned with safeguarding the humanity from the negative impacts of climate change, minimising the incidence of drought and halting the expansion of deserts and preventing the loss of ecologically sustainable habitats and livelihoods. Considering the emergencies, it is argued that adoption of faith based measures for transforming leisure use patterns is considered on priority. Following diagram demonstrates the impact and relations that adoption of prayer and meditation 5 times a day on the consumption patterns.

Men and women following the commands for prayer and meditation 5 times a day are not likely to indulge in consumption of lots of evening post work engagements that require long distance travels as this would interfere in observance of the command for prayer /salah /meditation /yoga at the appointed hours. It can be easily seen that adoption of this command will ensure transformation of lots of consumption of fossil fuel intensive leisure such as going to bar and dancing halls. This can be adopted along with several other personal and community responses for reducing the emission of green houses. Faith based responses appear to be more effective and they need to be promoted as for this there is no need to make additional efforts. Association of ‘conservatism’ appears to be more one of the response that some men and women may have for communication of faith based measures. But then it is important to see the importance of the adoption of faith based measure for ecological efficacy, safety, suitability, desirability and validity. Faith based responses are common and they just need to be promoted for their contribution in the ecological wellbeing at the personal, community, social, national and global levels. There is an urgent need for the same.


Personal faith based responses

Prayer 5 times a day for transforming leisure use pattern recognising that leisure use patterns are one of the key social engagements that consume most of the fossil fuel based services and utilities .Command for prayer is common across the religious texts though it appears most prominently practiced by men and women following the communications of Muhammad, believed to be the last messenger by Muslims (men and women submitting to the will of God/Allah/../.

How adoption of prayer transform the consumption patterns and ecologically hostile travel intensive leisure use patterns

Men and women practicing prayer (salah in Arabic) do not visit dancing halls and bars as they are more concerned about praying in time. Prayer in the morning, afternoon, after sunset and then prayer after dinner in the homes/ mosques/ churches/synagogue/ prayer and meditation halls/work place makes them bound to focus on the necessary work only. Prayer and remembrance for them is a mean of relaxation, stress busting, socialization, and communion and so on. S/he concentrates on the essential matters in the neighbourhood and cares for them as commanded through the messengers. Secondly, they abstain from exhibitionist consumption following the command of God/ Allah for not transgressing the bounds/limits set by God/Allah. For dressing they believe that the best dress is that of piety determined by the extent to which they follow the commands of God/ Allah. They abstain from adultery following the commands against the same as they believe in upholding the best standards of piety. They seek forgiveness from God/Allah for the sinful deeds executed intentionally or unintentionally. Thus adoption of prayer 5 times a day works as a guard for all the behaviours that have been prohibited in the holy books across the religions.

They donate out of the sustenance for poor following the commands for donation/zakat, khairat, fitra and sadaqah/daan.. They do not waste and thus observe the best of the ideals communicated through the slogan of ‘waste not, want not’. They indulge in ecologically safe consumption and believe in moderation in all matters. The middle path communicated through the commands of God/Allah is best ensured through the adoption of compulsory prayers 5 times a day. Youth, Men and men following the commands in Shiv Sankalp Taru for remembrance of Ishwar are likely to have the similar best behaviour patterns that are ecologically safe. Their average ecological footprints are likely to be very low. This needs to be established with communication of more ecological audits/ water audits/green audits/ energy audits/ paper audits/ food intake audits- a series of audits that youth, men and women following the command of God/Allah perform or they are supposed to perform. They ensure more and more pious behaviour, consumption and production patterns. Centre for Ecological Audit, Inclusion and Governance along with many organisations call for generation of more pious responses as they are directly linked to reduction in the emission of green house gases .

Inter faith commons

The inter faith commons need to be communicated and disseminated for not only global integration but also for addressing the critical ecological challenge that we as part of humanity face . Global warming is no longer a concern of a particular nations but it is an issue that we all as part of humanity face. Inter faith commons bring to the fore the understanding that we have common monotheistic content and messengers who upheld the best standards of justice, communication, and struggle in their life time and fought men and women after utilizing the best means of persuasion. Shiv Sankalp Taru has a very interesting verse that needs to be brought in light for men and women who have special affinity for the Sanskrit textual tradition. The timings are very much common to the timing followed by the Muslims. It is a command that needs to be followed by all. Muslim youths, men and women already follow that following the communication of God/BRAHMM communicated through the last messenger while believing that commands were communicated through all the messengers earlier in various languages and lands. The commands followed by Muslims are the commands that were communicated through the earlier messengers were sent to all the lands to people who spoke various languages following the related verse in the holy Qur’an. Commands in Shiv Sankalp Taru “Ishwar smarate panch awasare” calls for remembrance of Ishwar who was neither born nor gave on five occasions in a day, every day-all the 365/366 days of the year.

Command for establishing prayer at the appointed hours exists in the Holy Qur’an. According to one count there are command for establishing salah and give zakat more that 54 times in the holy Qur’an. There are commands in Bible and Torah. Buddhist monotheistic tradition calls for fighting the ‘mara’ in the Dhammapada and the atheistic understanding calls for adoption of middle path in all the matters. Practice of meditation leads to transformation of consumption patterns. Gurus in the Sikhism and Jain traditions are examples of austere life filled with prayer and penance. Guru Nanak was a practitioner of prayer and remembrance and he is revered for that and followed by millions of Sikhs around the world. For Sikhs, it is not impossible to follow the best practices of Guru Nanak who established himself as a role model for millions of Sikhs around the world. Following table shows the interfaith commons that can be adopted by all. This is being proposed considering the absence of coherent strategy in the atheistic post-modern discourse and contingencies of the global emergencies that must be addressed.


Some key ecologically sensitive commands Islam Christianity Brahmanism Sikhism Judaism Buddhism Jainism
Prevention of usury √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Prohibition of adultery and homosexuality √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Propagation of austerity √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Protection of the institution of family √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Command for donating for the poor √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Command for prayer √ √ √ √ √ √ √



How an ecologically sustainable / contended reverent economy is built up with happiness for all

Ecological economists are currently debating issues with the Washington consensus economist and fighting the TINA (there is no alternative) syndrome .Noam Chomsky believes in the alternative economic order and so do youths of the world who through their calls are wanting to see the change and taking up non-violent advocacy and communication for the needful change . He also believes in the alternative political and cultural order .Binary economists are calling for abolition of interest charged on the loans as they believe creation of money from thin air in the books of the bankers is responsible for lots of ecologically hostile and socially inequitable practices in consumption, production and distribution and leisure use patterns www.binaryeconomics.org .

Elimination of usury, fiat money propelling the ecologically hostile growth of urban habitats is being pointed out to be a critical factor in building a socially inclusive and ecologically safe economy. Similarly, debt free credit /interest free loans are being promoted for zero debt distressed suicides and bankruptcies.

Another major feature of contented and ecological sustainable economy is its capacity and intent for the protection of ecologically sustainable habitats with renewable resource based life support systems. It is simply impossible to envisage sustainability of non-renewable based transport systems in perpetuity. Search for nuclear energy and intense research activity in the renewable resource based energy is a proof for this. It needs to be noted that while nuclear energy in the short run appears to be carbon neutral, but in the long run, this is also not sustainable as there are limited resources for running the reactors. It is clear that resources such as uranium and thorium are not for all the time in the future. Therefore, the only solution is to decelerate and regulate the consumption of non-renewable resource based services and utilities through instituting an ecologically sustainable economy with the following features:

1.Debt free money and interest free loans with public control on the creation of money
2.Rights to renewable resource based habitats
3.Ecologically sustainable leisure use patterns
4.Distributive justice for renewable resource based livelihoods
5.Freedom from worried of energy crisis
6.Protection of Renewable resource based livelihoods

Freedom from worries of energy crisis affecting energy intensive transportation systems and habitats is an essential constituent of an ecologically sustainable and socially equitable economy .At present most of the planners are concerned with the increasing energy requirements and for this some countries are ready to sacrifice their ideals and foundations of foreign policy. Left parties in India along with other parties have been vociferously opposing the loss of independence in the foreign policy of India. It is important to ensure sustainability for the renewable resource based life support systems and for this it is important to halt the loss of ecologically sustainable habitats and agricultural production methodologies. It is not possible to ensure sustainability for habitat designs that are based on unsustainable energy sources. Therefore, it is not possible to ensure sustainability for skyscraper laden urban habitats. Urban areas with energy intensive shopping malls need to be brought within ecologically sustainable limits. For this to happen, it is important to support adoption of ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance framework.

Youths as drivers of change processes and communication for transition to ecologically safe life support systems locally and globally

Creating debt free money and ensuring interest free loans in not quite easy as that requires change of hearts and minds of men and women governing the various institutions who find the proposals difficult. Success of the proposals for ecologically sustainable and socially equitable economy and polity requires multiplication of men and women who uphold the criterion of piety. It is important that the pious men and women across the world prohibiting peacefully what is wrong and prescribing what is right take charge of the governance and ensure that debt free money is created, faith based measures are adopted for mitigating the impacts of climate change. It is important to understand the need to prepare for life after death as that would impel men and women to adopt faith based measures more and more. Now, the signs of ecological distress are too compelling to avoid collective and personal actions for both mitigating and halting the impacts of climate change. Signs of ecological distress affecting the lives of billions call for taking corrective action locally and globally. Youths and corporations who are market for non-renewable energy intensive services and utilities need to be in charge. Atheistic postmodernist laissez faire regimen of cultural, political and moral governance needs to be critically reviewed as they damage the survival interests of the billions in here and now and that of future generations.

Hurdles in the way/ constraints

There are hurdles in the way for such a massive change taking place simultaneously and globally and most pernicious among the faith based notions are that of neo-liberal atheistic ideology where market and profit devoid of the concerns of eternal interests of mankind are permitted to have full freedom. It is dominance of atheistic neo-liberal ideology that prevents men and women from adopting the faith based pious measures for addressing the global and local challenges. Media channels such as MTV with adoring participation of youths indoctrinated in the atheistic visions of good life are busy in creating models of copy cat consumption and leisure use patterns globally with local vernacular channels following in line. Starting with English music content in 90’s now MTV has more of Hindi songs and dance forms with direct message for youths for copying the ecologically leisure use pattern including partying ,dancing and drinking of intoxicating drinks.

The second hurdle is the lack on coherent national and international policy with respect to addressing the climate change. While Kyoto protocol emission target call for reduction in the emission of green house gases, national development strategies continue to be inspired by the perception of competitive disadvantage. It is dangerous to have such incoherence for long time as the assessments of climate scientists are too compelling. Speaking on the occasion of a meeting to the launch the full report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the impacts of global warming, Professor Martin Parry, a climate scientist with MET office in UK and co-chairman of the working group for the report said, “We are all used to talking about the impact of these changes coming in the lifetime of our children and grand children. Now we know that it is us.” He added that politicians had wasted a decade in focussing on ways to cut emissions, and had woken up recently to the need to adapt. He felt that “mitigation has got all the attention, but we cannot mitigate out of this problem. We have now a choice between a damaged world and a severely damaged world”. (The Hindu 20 September 2007)

The hurdle can be seen through assessing the levels of convergence for the various agencies and their functioning. While there are calls for higher rates of growth, they are not assessed in the light of the demands of ecological sustainability. Even the promotion of indexes such as “sustainability index” is not getting the required attention and it has been left to the discretion of the nations. There are evidences of lack of interagency cooperation and United National Development Programme (UNDP) appears to be working against the mandate of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Environment assessments /ministries are slighted for benefiting ecologically hostile proposals/ policies. More often than not considerations of ecological sustainability are ignored for sanctioning ecologically hostile projects. This is evident from the sanction of Special Economic Zones despite the violent and non-violent resistance of farmers in India as they did not want to give up on their only source of ecologically sustainable livelihoods through farming. Committee for Campaign on National Himalayan Policy for the ecologically fragile Himalayan region in India has been calling for redefinition of development policy.

Therefore there is a need to institute a governance framework that is both ecologically safe and socially inclusive with reference to poor, old, children and women, ethnic and religious groups residing both in rural and urban habitats.

Labour League Foundation along with several youth led organisations considers the need for establishing ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance with the following features:

1.A governance that is cognizant of the needs of poor, rights of farmers and villages to ecologically sustainable livelihoods and habitats
2.Governance that eliminates fictitious inflationary money and usurious loans created from thin air and responsible for expansion of ecologically hostile habitats
3. Governance that promotes pious and ecologically safe consumption and production pattern
4.A government that plans for ecologically safe disaster free future for all
5.Governance that ensure ecologically safe distribution of natural resources
6.Governance that works for the interests of all
7.Governance that ensures policy making for the rights of children, future generations and poor


.

Diagram-4
Represents the key features of ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance

Youth strategies

1.Multiplication of carbon neutral neighbourhood discussions (CNNDs) across the cities and villages

These discussions initiated by youth and community elders in the neighbourhood where they gather for collective prayer, discussions and other social engagements. The recommendations of the discussions and simultaneous action compiled at various levels will be presented in the form of a memorandum to the local and world leader gathered in various summits and events accelerating the generation of ecologically safe survival and development policies and multiplication of ecologically safe survival policies. Local impacts will be generated through transformation of the leisure use pattern, consumption pattern, production systems ensuring minimisation of emission of green house gases and galvanising mass communication strategies for reduction in the personal contribution to the green house gases. The discussions on the urgency of reducing green house gases lead to the transformation of personal level consumption patterns. Centre for Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance (CEASIG), a Delhi based organisation believes that personal responses are critical for transformation of the consumption patterns. Unsustainable consumption patterns can be halted with the personal responses. Personal responses are always part of the global responses. Carbon neutral neighbourhood discussions (CNNDs) will multiply ecologically safe responses across the urban and rural areas.

2.Multiplication of ecologically safe responses through promotion of green journalism

Production of analytical and advisory outputs through journalists is critical and they are one of the major stakeholders in shaping the opinions, consumption patterns. Journalists writing on lifestyle can substantially influence the consumption pattern of people in the urban areas. They can help in shaping the tastes and defining the choices. Journalists are important is generating democratic consensus for halting unsustainable consumption patterns. In our times, journalists play a very critical and sometimes they are responsible for defining the social, cultural and political trends. Youth organisations call for securing the future of villages, children and future generations with ecologically sustainable habitats, consumption patterns while ensuring inter-species justice.

3.Catalysing green politics

Labour league Foundation and Centre for Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance along with many organisations globally will be supporting the process for open and transparent politics for instilling the importance of ecologically safe green ideals. Youth organisations will be organising meetings with the representatives of the various media organisations and political parties and seek inclusion of ecological considerations in editorial policies and election manifestoes. Media organisations need to be visionary organisations and help in the preparation for an emerging future bereft of petro-modern consumption, transport, habitat and production systems.

4.Transformation of leisure use patterns

Youth organisations and youth wish to realise the millennium development goals for eliminating the unsustainable consumption patterns and wish to do so through suggesting transformation of the leisure use pattern. Suggestions for adoption of faith based measures that are common across the religious texts need to be taken seriously as part of global cultural commons. As indicated through the diagrammatic representation of the impact of adoption of faith based measures, youths call for generating interfaith consensus for acting simultaneously for transforming the leisure use patterns.

5.Calculation of ecological footprints, eliminating ecological rucksacks, returning to the ecologically sustainable habitats of the past for securing the ecological safe future of children and future generations

Youth call for dissemination of the practice of measuring ecological footprints for getting the desired actions for reducing the number of decisions involving emission of green house gases. Similarly, awareness on the loss of rocks due to excessive mining is critical for eliminating the amount of ecological losses. It is critical to value the conventional housing designs that use mud, grass, bamboo and wood. The definition of poverty considering the possession of adobe dwellings as a sign of poverty needs to be revised.

6.Ecological Audit of the consumption processes and patterns

The ecological audit is a concept proposed by Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam, the chairman of Labour League Foundation http://muhammad_mukhtar_alam.tigblog.org .This needs to be used along with the calculation of ecological footprints, environment audit/ green audit for assessing the impact of various decision and consumption patterns. Globalisation of the ecological audit at all levels is needed for supporting ecologically sustainable consumption patterns. This is important for realising the millennium development goals for environment sustainability by the year 2015. It is proposed that reports on sustainability index are incorporated in the formulation of the ecologically safe development policy.

7.Ecological Audit of the production systems / patterns

Production processes need to be assessed for ecological sustainability. There are ecologically sustainable and unsustainable production processes. The workshops with corporations interested in realising the millennium development goals will be conducted for getting in the changes in production processes. Youths believe based on the predictions on the oil reserves that Petro-modern production systems do not have a long future. Reducing energy demand for ecologically unsustainable production, consumption patterns is critical for halting the expansion of deserts and regularisation of rainfalls.

8.Ecological Audit of the transport systems / patterns

Renewable resource based transport systems are sustainable and non-renewable resource based transport systems are not sustainable. Ecological Audit of the transport systems needs to be encouraged for all organisations and ministries dealing with transport. Minimising / Eliminating travel is critical for ecologically sustainable habitats. We need to prepare for the end of petro-modern age.

9.Ecological Audit of the leisure use patterns-

There are leisure use patterns that do not use green house gas producing fossil fuels and there are leisure use patterns that are based on renewable resources and that does not involve consumption of fossil fuels. Workshop with the neighbourhood discussion leaders and resident welfare associations needs to be conducted for necessary transformation of leisure use patterns. Children, youths and elders need to be encouraged to adopt faith based measures for relaxation and stress busting. There are several studies that have demonstrated the impact of prayer and meditation on stress levels. Ecological audit of the leisure engagements need to be supported for getting the desired response for reduction in the emission of green house gases through transformation of leisure use patterns.

10.Interfaith dialogue for addressing the climate change, farmer’s suicides, and social security for workers in unorganized sector and transforming finance sector

Appreciation of the common commands for prayer, donation, compassion, charity and prohibition of usury, adultery, and homosexuality is needed with wider dissemination of the same. Adoption of these commands addresses the challenge of climate change, ecologically hostile usurious system, AIDS and so on. Inter-faith dialogue will ensure generation of responses across the faith groups. Delhi has a vibrant culture of interfaith dialogue. Sant Rajinder Singh of Sawan Kripal Ashram has been conducting the same for many years. Youth organisation need to work independently or in collaboration with faith based organisations for generating more forums of interfaith dialogue.

11.National/ regional/ city/ village based conventions on Inter Faith common responses for addressing the climate change-

Governments need to be encouraged for holding national conventions for generating consensus for adoption of faith based measures for addressing the climate change. There are cultural responses for fighting the atheistic neo-liberal cultural trends emanating from Europe and copied by youth in the name of globalisation and modernity. National Convention will address the issue of climate change through adopting the interfaith commons while preserving religious diversity and ecologically sustainable dietary, sartorial, linguistic diversities.

12.Carbon neutral Youth colloquiums / meetings / Majlis-e-Naujawan/ Yuva Harit Bharat Sabha/../../

Youths propose globalisation of local efforts for contributing in the mitigation of the impacts of climate change. Governments recognise the critical role of youths as more and more organisations led by youths are involved in consultation. It is suggested that Green youth forums with vernacular names need to be formed and discussions be held with active government support for getting the desired response pattern for halting the expansion of unsustainable consumption pattern and leisure use pattern through adoption of faith based measures.

Conclusion:

Imagining the responses of the weaker species in the face of man made onslaughts on the non-renewable resources , many youths across the world recognise the threats represented through the expression of anguish of the billions of poor who are angry, dispossessed and seeking an end to the process of non-renewable resource based usurious finance fuelled expansion of consumption and production pattern that is causing serious loss of livelihood for millions across the Earth and call upon all the governments, civil society organisations, corporations engaged in ecologically hostile production processes to boycott the ecologically hostile usurious finance and prevent further loss of ecologically sustainable habitats that are an immediate outcome of the expansion of ecologically hostile non-renewable resource based habitats. Nations need to compete in establishing the models of ecologically safe economy, polity and culture. Youth of the world are ready to become a leader along with Muslims, Greens and men and women of the world who wish to halt the political expansion of the atheistic neo-liberal ideology that is responsible for exacerbating the ecological distress demonstrated through the increased incidence of drought and expansion of deserts causing suffering for millions. Adaptation is the weakest response and youths call for halting the negative impacts of climate change. Nothing is impossible.


Reference:

•Yacouba Noël COULIBALY (2007), “Desertification, climate change and Forest in the Sahel”,
Center for International Forestry Research, Tropical Forest and Climate Change Adaptation Project, 06 BP 9478 Ouagadougou 06, Burkina Faso
•www.simpol.org
•www.monetary.org
•www.globaljusticemovement.org
•http://muhammad_mukhtar_alam.tigblog.org

]]> Fri, 23 May 2008 04:45:00 EDT http://Muhammad_Mukhtar_Alam.tigblog.org/post/376155 28.6 77.228.677.2 http://Muhammad_Mukhtar_Alam.tigblog.org/post/248619 Wed, 12 Sep 2007 05:42:00 EDT http://Muhammad_Mukhtar_Alam.tigblog.org/post/248619 28.6 77.228.677.2 http://Muhammad_Mukhtar_Alam.tigblog.org/post/244377
Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam

We need united actions and simultaneous actions globally for meeting the collective challenge to the survival of human species and preservation of renewable resource livelihoods while securing interspecies justice. Can we live without the mines? Do we need to think of a world with diverse national goals at a time when there are global threats of similar nature? I would like to start this article with these questions and observations. The answers to the issue of natural resources for many may be in the negative considering the dominance of the products and services in the urban areas where lots of livelihoods are associated with the products that consume mines extracted from the earth. However, for many whose livelihoods are based on agriculture, cattle rearing, hunting and gathering, the answers will be very much positive. We can see the difference of the answers and we can easily see the difference ourselves if we remove the facilities made available through the extraction of mines. Many living in the urban areas for generations can see the livelihoods of ancestors who were not trading in commodities and those who were not living by work that did not involve agriculture. Many of us now living in the urban areas can also get back to our rural roots and see that there were few houses built with concrete and steel and most of the houses used to be made of mud, wood and grass with minimal use of iron. They were generally single storied. Thus, we can see that it is the predominantly mines based multi-storeyed housing that has been consuming more and more products based on the mines. Extraction of the mines has been facilitated with petro-modern transportation systems. Earlier, it was also not possible to transport huge quantities of mines from one place to another due to severe logistic limitations.

I would like to relate to my participation in Eternal Voyage, an international meet of tribal and indigenous / analogous people in December 1993 at Bhopal, India where, I has presented a paper called "Tuning in the Certainty Mode of Expression and breaking the monotony of probabilistic mode of Expression " while coordinating the participation of a multi-national team of student and research scholars. Considering multiple discourses on the conception of good life, just world order, limits to the sustainability of the consumption and production patterns, the paper written in form of questions and answers had been done considering oneself on the death bed answering some of the questions of a younger brother who wished to learn on the justification of my academic thesis " Cognitive Representations related to the Concept of World Citizen". It would have been interesting to reproduce the paper that included questions related to the questions of collective survival equations, eternal rhythm and sustainability of the mines based (industrial) and grass and hut based (agricultural and pastoral) civilization. Nonetheless, I would like to note that while proposing the concept of Eternity Index /Sustainability Index in the paper, I had resolved to call for urgent transformation of the consumption and production patterns globally that were based on the utilization of the mineral resources and fuels .I knew that this would not be possible, as transformation of such a magnitude will not be planned and executed democratically. Thus, I had to look for the middle path where there is relatively balanced use of the mines based products without harming the long term sustainability of the consumption and production that are directly linked to the survival equation of all .By 1994, I concluded that, it is only the global adoption of faith based measures that can help in the transformation with minimum loss .The realization further deepened with the formulation of conceptual organization that was an outcome of textual encounter with a British journalist Juliet Reynolds on the terms of criticism in arts and culture. My conceptual organization for the academic dissertation on “A Study of the Cognitive Representations related to the Concept of World Citizen” can be seen as the first post on http://muhammad_mukhtar_alam.tigblog.org


Now, I would like to relate to the endeavours for world citizenship and the virtual congress that is being organised in the month of July 2006. While expressing gratitude for the opportunity, I would like to mention that I have been advocating global adoption of faith-based measures for decelerating the consumption of mines based unsustainable consumption and production patterns in the e-forums of World Bank and UNDP. While relating to all the commands of God, I have been focusing on the need to adopt the command for prayer 5 times a day as the best instrument for personal regulation, transformation of leisure use pattern, reduction and deceleration of the consumption based on the utilisation of mines based services and utilities. In a dialogue with Craig Hubley, a teacher at Free University Of Toronto, it was mutually agreed that for getting the best mediation by the leaders and other decision makers, practice of prayer and meditation is important. We discussed several dualisms and we agreed that it is the atheistic ethicists and social designers who need to appreciate the importance of the culture of prayer and its impact for World Unity for Social Equity, Global Ecological Safety and Distributive Justice for renewable resource based livelihoods across the world as we may not have full-scale replacement of non-renewable energy based transportation systems that very much define the notions of 'progress', 'development' and 'growth'.

The mining in Himalayas and other mountainous regions is due to the globalisation of fossil fuel based mobility and transportation system and idealization of urban space with skyscrapers and flyovers. Apparently this cannot be stopped but it can be assuredly moderated and regulated. There is a global upsurge of people's movements most notably manifested through the organization of World Social Forums. There are movements where identities are instruments of mobilization for addressing relative deprivation of all the status markers of "progress"," growth" and "development". In addition, there are state actors involved in the process of exclusivist nation building process undermining the human rights of indigenous populations and ecological rights of the future generations. In all these national building movements and endeavours, there is an underlying desire to seek more and more of unsustainable consumer goods and housing without considering the short future of petro-modern lifestyles, consumption and production processes. Distributive justice remains one of the key ideals for class and gender based movements. We may have better scenarios of distributive justice and there are struggles for the distributive justice for these petro-modern products as well. This may be noted that call for distributive justice in the Marxist framework had been for all that all the products and services that are needed for survival and also for those products that are not directly related to survival. However, considering the limits to the sustainability of the mine reserves, one can see that call for distributive justice for all the fossil fuel based services and utilities is an unsustainable vision in the same way as availability of all the mines based production and consumption is a transitory phenomenon, if we think of a long future for humanity (with the will of God/Allah/Ishwar/---/--/ the Creator and Master of all the heavens and earth).

Thus, it can be inferred that rationalization of the mining in Himalayas can be achieved with the globalisation of relatively sustainable agricultural consumption and production patterns. Additional local endeavours will be needed to safeguard sustainable livelihoods in the Himalayas and eschew imitation of the petro-modern consumption and production processes. However, this may not be effectively achieved in isolation as globalisation of unsustainable fossil fuel based consumption, production and transportation systems goes apace with the advice of free market economists and atheistic liberal social designers who will not be content without the globalisation of "formal democracy" with globalisation of the consumption of fossil fuel based consumption and production processes. None the less, there is a need to seek globalisation of sustainable consumption and production pattern so as to avoid suffering of many, in the future who may not find full scale replacement for the fossil fuel based transportation systems. Thus there is need to find urgent solutions for ensuring that our future in the cities are safeguarded trough deceleration of the consumption of non-renewable renewable resource based consumption. Thus, safeguarding Himalayas and such other mountain ecologies is possible with stronger local efforts along with global movement for decelerating the consumption of fossil fuel based services and utilities.There is need to establish one governance protocol for realising such as deceleration as atheistic neo-liberal governance models are not leading us to safety and more and more nations are facing the contradiction of the call of non-renewable resource based development standards and the call of ecological safety, bio safety and environmental sustainability.

Also, Kyoto Protocol emission targets incorporated in the UN millennium development goals point out the need to decrease the emission of green house gases that has influenced vital eco-systems. It is sad that prominent nations such as US and Russia are not interested in ratifying the protocol. In the case of US, arguments have ranged from preserving the present lifestyle to adopting alternative means for reducing the emission of the green house gases. As part of alternative strategies investments are being made both by EU and US for research in hydrogen gas fuel and increasing production of renewable energy .As of now, no major development has taken in transforming the energy use pattern in EU and US other than test running a hydrogen powered vehicle in Iceland. Green Party in German wishes to have more renewable energy by 2020 without ensuring effective and time bound measures for reducing conspicuous consumption. I believe only the adoption of faith based spiritual measures is helpful in reducing the consumption of fossil fuel based services and utilities as men and women would be able to give up some of consumption decisions for leisure and pleasure through replacing them by adoption of faith based measures. Muslims practicing prayer 5 times a day do not visit dancing halls and bars and travel long distances for leisure as they need to abide by the commands of God for offering prayer in time. This helps in the minimization of the consumption of the non-renewable resource based services and services. More explanations can be seen later.

The urgency for the adoption of means for radically transforming the consumption pattern gets more urgent as we have more and more and evidences of the impact of global warming reported in the newspapers and journals. There are other distressing pointers to the ecological degradation of the Himalayas. Gangotri and Siachen Glaciers are receding due to global warming and human activity. The long military presence in Siachen and pilgrimage tourism to Gangotri has undermined the purity of the invaluable water resources. Glaciologist Syed Iqbal Hasnain is worried that our failure to act will aggravate water scarcity and ecological degradation to dangerous levels . The interview with S.I Hasnain had been conducted in the background of Ronald Emrich film " The Day after tomorrow" that has dramatized the impact of global warming in the form of Big Freeze. While considering the big Scenario unlikely, Mr. Hasnain has pointed out that we are indeed facing a global warming crisis for the first time in the 4.5 billion year history of earth, which has been provoked entirely by human activity. 15000 years is considered the normal gap in the cyclical patterns of global warming and freezing. Thus, next ice age according to Mr. Hasnain is expected not before another 10,000 years. It has been pointed out that glaciers are receding all over the world. One of the important impacts of the receding glaciers in Himalayas is availability of water in the glacier fed rivers. Eighty percent of the water in the Indus, Ganga and Brahmputra rivers are fed by melting snow and ice. The life of these rivers is entirely dependant on glaciers. Water supply in these rivers cannot be sustained if ice is not replenished. It has been pointed out that human activity due to pilgrimage to Gangotri, army presence and trekking is contributing to the eco-degradation of the Himalayas. There are more evidences indicating impacts of the global warming. Not much is being done to arrest the receding of the glacier and everything is being left to chance. Several such evidences are spread over globally and environmentalists are feeling more and more frustrated.

Mining in Himalayas along with the activities of road construction created ecological impact. Chipko movement and then later other movements based has brought the issues of ecological degradation to the fore in Uttarakhand. The movement helped in the global build-up for ecological safety and it strengthened the voice of Greens in Europe and Americas. Realizing sustainability goals for Himalayas is like realizing the sustainability goals of all the mountain system. The movements are local but then scale of intervention is global. Therefore, it is important to understand all the factors that are responsible for the continued failure in making substantial changes for realising the ecologically sustainable future for people in Himalayas and elsewhere. I would like to address the issue through analysing the sustainability conditions of the consumption patterns and then analysing the movements, ideologies and religions that all have a bearing on the fate of not only the people in the Himalayas but all over the world.

Sustainability of the mines based / industrial and grass based /agricultural consumption and production patterns

Considering the history of consumption and production patterns, it can be easily imagined and observed that only agricultural and pastoral consumption and production patterns are sustainable so long the Sun is alive with the provision of rain and air. Mines extracted in various forms are limited and thus definition of growth and progress based on the availability of mines is also transitory. Diagrammatic representation for sustainability value of mines based and agricultural based consumption pattern show the sustainability values for the consumption patterns. It is in this background that call for redefining "progress" of the ecological economists such as Richard B. Norgaard, Pavel Kasyanov, Greens, Gandhians, pious Muslims, Christians, Jews ,Sikhs and others need to be understood. Considering this fact, we can see that a global transformation of production and consumption patterns is urgently needed so that our concerns for ecological safety for our generation in here and now and for the future generations are addressed while ensuring best mechanisms for distributive justice for the renewable resources and survival equations based on the same.






















Diagrammatic representation of the values of consumption pattern on the Sustainability Index is shown above. I had proposed the value to range from 0 to 1. Renewable resource based consumption have the value of 1 while non-renewable resource based consumption have the value of 0 as they will not be available in all the possible future time. Believers in the Day of Judgement seek both temporal and eternal well being while atheists seek temporal well being only.



This fact is quite well known to quite a number of movements and there are several government and non-government efforts. UN agencies have been promoting the use of Sustainability Index .For ensuring socially and ecologically responsible investing; the corporate sector and the investors in Europe are using Sustainability Index. There are environment ministries looking in the impact the development decisions on environment. Nonetheless, there is much that is urgently needed to be for desirable impact. I would like to focus on my academic conclusions, which have been made considering the political processes and movements globally.

Analysis of the prescriptive frameworks for safeguarding socially and ecologically sustainable consumption and production patterns/ lifestyle

Considering the Sustainability Index, and considering the overall efficacy of the movements, it is better to have an analysis of the movements that contribute for the realization of ecological safety, distributive justice and collective health and well being. Prescription for the direction of change for the movements will be also discussed.

Movements and their representations

WSF 2004 documentation represents one of the best listing of the themes in pursuance of the demands of the various movements that are recognized worth listing by the NGO’s and movement leaders. It has not included the perspectives of the faith-based organizations. Muslims certainly have a prescription based on the communication of the messengers. WSF doctrinally affirms negation of the dominance of any vision of truth and it creates only the space for articulation of the positions without seeking a unified protocol for global governance.

Movements for gender justice

The movements for gender justice are one of the strong movements and there are calls for ensuring gender justice in all the institution of governance, education, commerce and so on. It may be considered 'heretical' in writing something that calls for the transformation of the ideals of gender justice movement in the light of the demands of sustainable consumption and production pattern required for ensuring ecological safety. My apprehension is valid only for those affirmations and political positions where provision of all the services and utilities based on the consumption of the fossil fuels is considered sustainable without recognizing the limits to the sustainability of the supplies of non-renewable resources. Achieving gender justice for all the consumption based on the non-renewable resources is not possible now. It is not possible to achieve distributive justice for all. Therefore, there is a need to transform the consumption patterns for realizing the Kyoto Protocol emission targets. This can be achieved only with rationalization of the consumption of leisure and pleasure related goods and services. Thus, it will be imperative to seek minimization of the activities involving consumption of fossil fuel based leisure and pleasure by all.

Faith based instruments is recommended for replacing the leisure and pleasure need of both men and women. Decisions will lead to negative growth in tourism and entertainment industry. I would be worthwhile to create databases for the contribution of various sectors of human engagement to the emission levels locally and globally. Nations will have to rethink definition of “growth”, “development” and "progress". It is necessary to have recourse to the commands of God in texts where differentiation between men and women has not been made. "Patriarchy" is one of the important concepts that need to be reviewed for clear understanding as the use of this concept in the background of anti-religious texts has been globalised to an extent that this is considered a target to be fought along with other targets . I have argued that "patriarchy" is not relevant in monotheistic framework. There is a distinction between divine commands and man-made protocols. Manu's protocol related to women and quoted quite often is not in conformity with the monotheistic commands where men and women marry while adhering to commands in the name of God. Many writers have blamed religion to be anti-women, which is not true. Manu's protocol regarding the women's access to Veda's needs to be condemned as there exists prohibition of access to knowledge by women and shudras. There are no such prohibitive provisions in the monotheistic texts. Thus, men and women need to be appealed for having a fresh understanding of the commands of God and for this reading of Qur'an is recommended where issues having difference in the interpretation of earlier texts has been explained with communication for total submission of oneself to the commands of Allah/God/Parmatma (I think, the best word without any anthropomorphic representation in the polytheistic pantheon is paramatma. Scholars of Sanskrit may help in finding the equivalent of the word Allah with 99 names in Arabic language .All the name with similar meanings in other languages are equally the names of the Omniscient and the Omnipresent).

Thus abidance of the commands by both men and women related to prayers and tithes/zakat with belief in the Day of Account will lead to the harmony between men and women and then among the various groups. In the governance, it would be possible to establish "piety" as the criterion for leadership. The degree of his and her abidance to the commands of Allah determines piety of a man and woman. It may be not possible but then we can direct the energies in this direction and this will have best reward for all of us here in this world and hereafter. We need to consider this urgently or else we will continue to debate "alternatives" without having a personal and collective impact. Large conferences will continue to be labelled as eco-hostile activity. WSF 2004 has been criticized for this reason. A beginning can be made by transforming WSF agenda, that is a forum for debates on alternatives while individuals and associated movements /groups take local and global action. The virtual congress on global governance is a significant occasion to the decisively define a globally acceptable protocol of global governance with fullest participation of faith leaders and pious scholars. I would like to communicate for the acceptance of monotheistic protocols of global and local governance for meeting the challenges peacefully and democratically.

Establishing "piety"/taqwa in Arabic eliminated ideas based on the understanding of race and caste. In the deconstructionist discourse, power is analysed without providing definition of truth. In the monotheistic communication "power" belongs to Allah and men and women are commanded to judge on the basis of the criterion provided by Allah. The virtual Congress on World Citizenship and Democratic Global Governance could be an occasion to generate a consensus for the acceptance of the monotheistic criterion as the one that can unite all.

Movements for distributive justice

Till the fall of USSR, we had this major fear of nuclear holocaust. Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev are credited with the admission that a nuclear war cannot be won. Gorbachev called for the de-ideologisation of foreign policy and opening up of the polity of USSR for safeguarding the humanity from ecological disaster and nuclear holocaust. Marxist Leninist framework was an atheistic framework where private ownership was eliminated. With the fall of atheistic communist governments in most of the countries, we still have movements calling for the distributive justice based on the undifferentiated vision for consumption. I have argued for the continuation of the struggles for distributive of renewable resources in monotheistic framework by collecting all the commands in various textual traditions. I consider this extremely important, as there is need to stop the bloodshed that is happening the in states of India and Nepal. There is need to seek consensus on the need for ensuring both public and private contributions for ensuring justice. Taxation ensures the money for public works and governance while donation helps people in the neighbourhood (Also in the ICT enable global neighbourhood). Wesley E Burt has proposed collection of three tithes as per the communications of God/Allah and he has been arguing since last many years for correcting the systemic defects in the US social, economic policy. I have been arguing for recognising the need to abide by the commands and focussing on the need to affirm the monotheistic framework for sorting out the disputes on all issues.

I would like to argue following the commands as communicated to the messengers and recorded in holy texts. (Zakat in Qur'an, tithes in Bible, Dhatrmada and Daan in the Sanskrit texts) that establishing monotheistic standards will help in ensuring best distributive justice as men and women while seeking the best here in this world will also seek best in the hereafter. Greed is tackled best with faith in the Day of Account for which best rewards are guaranteed for those who have spent in charity out of the sustenance provided by God. Considering the death as a certainty and then considering the need to have a resplendent record for the Day of Account, a believer is motivated in the contributing optimally for the poor, relatives, orphans, and widows. Percentage of earnings paid annually has been decided and there are established proportions among the faith groups. I would like to suggest that this is taken as a priority for the new WSF meeting as we cannot be happy with the fratricide generated out of grievance based on the lack of distributive justice. We already have innumerable narrations on the iniquitous globalisation among the monotheists, polytheists and atheists. It is important to consider all men and women as part of one family. It is important to seek best guidance from God/Allah as Allah and Allah only can be our best guide with our prayers and endeavours. Strong monotheistic tone here may be construed as representative of religious fundamentalism. However, considering the dominance of atheistic fundamentalism with Satan as the companion, it is important to communicate the path of progress both in temporal and eternal sense as per the promise of Allah that will never fail. We have already created means for collective suffering. By not uniting our voice in submitting to the will of Allah, we will continue to differ while suffering disasters here in this world and assuredly in the hereafter. We can imagine the interest of the children in 40th century. Allah knows better. Terraforming Mars may create some colonies but how many will afford travel for three years in the space. Debates continue on the ethics of such ventures while things on earth can be very well managed with the blessings of Allah and then with our own humble efforts. Earth has been created with everything in proportion. Atheists do not see any purpose in the creation of seven skies and earth as per the recorded divine communication in Qur'an .

Movements for Ecological Democracy

Movements for ecological democracy can be assessed from the documents of the Green movements all over the world. Major conclusion of the movements are for widening democracy for including effectively the concerns of the development displaced, indigenous people, children and women while having a deep recognition of the fact that globalisation of the development model supported by WTO, World Bank and IMF and other donor organizations is not sustainable. World Social Forum is an interesting forum that has helped movements to come together and discuss alternatives. Forum does not include the participation of the representatives of the governments in their official capacity. Indian Social Forum organised in the month of November 2006 plans to find out alternatives to corporate globalisation. As a member of the Programme Committee, I have argued for the creation for space for prayer 5 times a day at least for the Muslim participants while suggesting to all others the need to practice prayer and meditation 5 times a day.

Considering the need to have a rapid appraisal of the decisions of the movements represented in the World Social Forum this may be pointed out that there is an absence of consensus on reforming the finance system, model global governance, model code of conduct, definition of human rights and so on. Muslims and Catholics can never agree to the advocacy for permissive legislation for the homosexuals. Polytheists may not agree to the call for global adoption of prayer 5 times a day despite the fact that command/prescription for prayer exists in a Sanskrit text called Shiv Sankalp Sutra . Upholders of the theory of Gaia will not agree to the call of Muslims for faith in the oneness of God. Christians may agree to the presence of commands against drinking intoxicating drinks but they may not join in the call for establishing governance for upholding the word of God. Jews will agree to the presence of the commands against usury but then they would like to limit the application of the commands within Jews only while Muslims call for the abolition of usurious finance systems not only for themselves but for all. There are areas where positions are non-negotiable by the upholder of various visions of social and world order. There is need to bridge the cognitive gaps and this may not be possible without men and women joining in together for upholding some common values and establishing global communities of practice. Democracies are built around common shared visions with space for all the alternative and opposition visions. Muslim democrats like to see generation of democratic consensus for abidance to the commands Islamic democracies are for ensuring the communication of the commands of Allah. I would like to argue that the ideals of ecological democracy are established best in seeking affirmation and practice of the commands of Allah. Islamic Democracy of Iran is a good example of governance model that needs global acceptance for ensuring ecological democracy.

WSF as a matter for fact stands for negation of claim for a globally acceptable model. This can be also seen that without reforming the finance system and without correcting the systemic defects, inclusive democracy with reference to the rights of indigenous people and development displaced for ecologically sustainable and equitable consumption and production pattern cannot be realized. This is only possible with maximization in the number of people who are compassionate for the fellow human beings, who spend in charities, who establish prayer and who believe in the Day of Judgment. Atheistic materialists, social theorists and futurologists are good in agonizing on the problem, seeking best pleasures and leisure here in this world while not considering the fate of men and women in the hereafter end up prescribing solutions that are voluntary and not for global abidance. Pious Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists and all the followers of religions don’t value their prescriptions, as they are not morally sound. More often than not, atheistic communicators are found to be supporter of adultery, homosexuality and usury.

In the faith based communication, while sustainability is real only for the life in the hereafter and not with the existence of this earth for the all the time. Polytheistic communicator on the vision for a better world appears to be content through denouncing the monotheistic visions for social order. More often than not polytheists and atheists join in denouncing the monotheistic communication as intolerant recalling some of the experiences from the past and then some from the presents where Muslims are found to be part of violent actions.

Considering the above, we can see that there are at least three visions for the strategies and outcome of ecological democracy namely atheistic, polytheistic and monotheistic. Targets are clear but then instruments are not prescribed for common abidance. It is with regard to such a lack of vision for the effective instrument that goes beyond opposing the globalisaiton that, I would like to discuss the communities of practice and its implications for immediate ecological and biological safety. I would like to keep these categories for defining discursive narrative in active consideration, as the categories of capitalism, socialism and neo-liberalism are not quite representative of the people who are following various religions. We can see there are atheistic capitalists, polytheistic capitalists and monotheistic capitalists as they have different perceptions on the use of wealth acquired through production and services. There are atheistic socialists, polytheistic socialists and monotheistic socialists, and there are atheistic feminists, polytheistic feminists and monotheistic feminists. Also then there are atheistic communists, monotheistic communists and polytheistic communists. There are hypocrites, who are mere opportunists looking for a good bargain. With the best tolerance rendered for the various groups, it would be still important to find our the common axis for action and practice for getting the results for social equitable and ecologically sustainable democracy that work for the best interests of all here in this world and hereafter. I am not sure whether this can be realised for all. There are just too many differences and too much of ‘ignorance’. I recall the debates on the conception of ignorance. For Muslims, all who reject the signs of Allah and commands of Allah are rebellious and they will have to face chastisement if they do not repent. I also realise that ecologically, the time for repentance is now for many who reject the commands of Allah and pursue the whims of atheists without knowing the final outcome for the personal, collective and eternal well being. I also realise that I am writing all this for responding to the search for socially equitable and ecologically sustainable habitats, mountain, and lifestyles as that is the key stimulus for this piece of writing recognising that there are many who wish only for temporal well being only as they do not believe in eternal life of the souls.

At this point, I am tempted to recall the importance of Islamic democracies where there is an agreement for abiding to the commands of Allah and then seek consensus and consultation on the issues that are not reflected in the Qur’aan and traditions of Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him). I have a strong feeling for defending Islamic democracy, as I believe this will deliver all the goods. Muslim praying five times a day not only endeavour to get a better deal on the Day of Account but they also cause minimum ecological footprints. Though, seen differently, they are thankful for the bounties of nature and they wish to share with all without realising the call for ecological democracy.


Limits of the movements and political parties seeking the best world through atheistic and polytheistic model of governance

I would like to start with the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a movement led by Gandhians. Governments successively have failed and the best response conceived is in terms of land for land for those who are to be displaced. There has been call for implementation of alternative development paradigm. There are references for the same in so many communications. Millennium Development Goals has an affirmation for the call for ensuring environment sustainability for the consumption and production patterns. Still, there is absence of discussion on the final contours of “alternative” for global acceptance. NBA does not have the script for global adoption though they are part of the expressions of dissent across the world. Sunderlal Bahuguna once said that for the modern world dollar has become like God. He was repeating the old critique where people are denounced if they do not appreciate the call of ‘dharma’ and worship money only. There are many pious Hindus who agree with Muslims on so many things if they are pointed out the reference in the Sanskrit text for the commands of Allah recorded in Qur’an. There are many Christians and Jews who too agree to the importance of the global adoption of prayer 5 times a day but then they are not yet ready too get beyond the framework of nation state. If we read the manifestoes of the political parties; we do not get much reference to the ecological sustainability. There are political parties that defend the preservation of cultural values but they do not relate to the measurement of ecological footprints of the consumption patterns. It is critical to have a manifesto that relates to the consideration of ecological sustainability for the vision promoted for the nation. We cannot trust the vision for energy security and energy independence for India country, as this has not been achieved for any nation till now following the dominant unregulated mode of development with freedom for all communications and with dominance of leaders who do not uphold the standards of ‘piety’ to be the main criterion for leadership. There are Greens like Craig Hubley who seek leaders to be the practitioners of prayer and meditation for being better mediators on behalf of the people they serve.

Rastriya Swamsevak Sangh has a racist vision for Indian that are not based on facts and that supports inequitable and exploitative processes. There is a need to reform the key operational ideology of Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangha. Political mobilisation of dalits has further discredited them and their attempts to consolidate Hindu identity are based on hatred for scheduled caste, Muslims and Christians. It is strange that while acknowledging all types of religious practices, they do not appear to the accommodative of the propagation of the monotheistic practices and beliefs by Muslims, Christians and Jews as they limit their appreciation of the role models worshipped in the polytheistic pantheon that are based in India. They forget the migration patterns and other evidences that distinguish them from the indigenous population in India. They wish to impose their understanding of a "Hindu" nation. Republicans in US are not responding to the ecological needs and they continue to deny the impacts of global warming. Indian and Chinese politicians wish to pursue nationalist goals that are based on the abundance of non-renewable resource based services and comforts in the rural and urban areas while not realising the sustainability of the non-renewable resource based power. US is on the verge of entering a nuclear deal with India while ignoring the legitimate claims for the same by Pakistan, Iran and so many other nations.

Therefore, it is important to uphold the pious standards and seek wider consent through persuasive communication. It is equally important to delete the impact of the social designers who continue to stall faith-based prescriptions in monotheistic framework. Many have not been able get beyond the negative experience of Church is some matters that were clearly responded by Allah/God through communications to Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) and recorded in Qur'an.)

Non State Actor and their call for "another world order"

Maoists, Islamists, Dalits and NGOs all call for a world order and endeavour for building another world. There are common points of aspiration without having a consensus on the points of action, as there are different worldviews and conceptions of justice. Hindus nationalists are not acceptable to dalits, tribals, women and indigenous people, as they are understood to be supporters of the social order of Manu. Dalits call for the establishment of an alternative world order based on the teachings of Buddha. Atheistic neo-liberals calling for granting homosexuals positive social space are not acceptable to all who uphold the family and who support the normality of the heterosexual marriage. These differences are critical as they are the hurdles for realising the ecologically sustainable habitats/livelihoods for all. There are so many ecologically hostile travels that are taking place for addressing the root cause of suffering, poverty, AIDS as comprehensive solutions are not worked out. Some sort of hope is attached for the future and some sort of synergy is sought for the proposition of advocacy without compromising on the positions that are ecologically hostile. For example, Global Call Against Poverty deliberated on the need to reform the national and international finance institutions.

Need for synthesis

Therefore there is need for synthesis for defining one governance protocol for meeting the local, national and global challenges. This is needed for ensuring protection of ecologically sustainable livelihoods/transportation systems and habitats in Himalayas and elsewhere as there is absolutely no guarantee for the energy security. There is need have a paradigm for social unity and global unity. There is need to ensure minimisation of the consumption of resources that produce green house gases. There is a need to produce measures and policies that protect the cleanness of water in the rivers such as Yamuna where 386 million litres of wastewater is flown from Delhi. This synthesis is needed with open mind for considering divine information and revelations of the messengers. We need this synthesis to be effected in the minds of men and women globally and locally. We need to get back the communications for eternal well being of the souls. We need to find one pole for governance of all with patience and compassion. Atheistic 'modernist' utopia has been denounced and there are indeed challenges that are being faced locally and globally. We need to get rid of the mindsets where children are prohibited to display the religious signs in the schools. Instead, we need to create spaces for dialogue information about the diverse religions for the children.

Monotheistic framework for global unity/world unity considering the ecological challenges

I have argued for global adoption of monotheistic framework after analysing the analytical and prescriptive narratives by academicians, scientists deriving their moral ethical standards from the religious, ideological traditions. It is important to organise people of the world around one pole and endeavour for unity. Islamic/ Monotheistic framework is the framework for social and global unity as only the standard of piety is considered the most important standard. Race, language, geography are the creation of God and that is not due to some human intervention. Globalisation of atheistic neo-liberal consumption patterns has to be transformed through the globalisation of the culture of prayer, donation, patience, thanks giving, forgiveness and so on. There are related commands in the various texts. There are implications for education, governance, consumption pattern, financial institutions, and production patterns, as we need to privilege the standard of piety for all the world citizens all over the world.

Other impacts of the adoption of monotheistic framework

• Prevention of usurious transaction as men and women following the commands will stop charging interests for the loans. There are movements for transforming the finance sector where conclusions have been drawn from secular analysis suggesting the need for liberating loans from interests www.globaljusticemovement.net
• Freedom from the exploitative systems
• Distributive justice through the global adoption of the commands for donation of the surplus money/ commodity
• Social unity in the abidance to the commands of God/Ishwar/Allah
• Elimination of caste/class/tribe based discrimination as a result of the global appreciation of oneness of humanity
• Deletion of the impacts of the atheistic and polytheistic social designers and contradictions
• Transformation of the consumption patterns through global adoption of the culture of prayer
• Transformation of the leisure use pattern for creating time for prayer 5 times a day

Toward a solution

Therefore, we can consider the global, local and personal adoption of the commands to be the final solution for addressing the problems that are felt by various groups not only in the Himalayan region but also in the rest of world. There is need to promote the culture of prayer and donation of the surplus wealth for the needy, orphans, the relatives, families in the neighbourhood (40 households in all directions are considered neighbourhood according to one saying of Prophet Muhammad and they do appear optimum for a household that can be taken care of . Now, with the assistance of ICT enabled value transaction, the whole world is also treated as a neighbourhood by some who can afford to pay but then physical proximity is what matters more.) We can get the best results through teh ICT enabled communication environment across the cities for transforming the consumption pattern as that is what is needed addressing the ecological challenges locally and globally. We need to promote global adoption of prayer 5 times a day. I have shared with several e-forums and I would like to share this with the participants in the First Virtual Congress on World Citizenship and Democratic Global Governance that is being held in the month of July 2006. As part of recommendations , I would like to share the following that is contained in my PhD work on World Citizenship:

Recommendations for a just world order
Following is a section from my academic work

Recommendations for a just world order

The investigator would like to submit the following for further dissemination:

v There is a need to build up consensus for global unity in the monotheistic framework. The atheistic, polytheistic and animist prescriptions need to be understood as a representation of false consciousness. Shortcomings of the nation state system can be addressing by global adoption of Islam. Aside from being a proposition of an acquired faith in Islam( that is an abstract noun in Arabic languag