Muslim Mindinao vulnerable to sea level rise

Manila Bulletin (Philippines): A forum focusing on the vulnerability to climate change of coastal communities in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was held in Manila on Tuesday, with inputs from last April’s “First International Conference on Muslim Action on Climate Change” in Indonesia thrown in.

Quoting studies on the Philippines, Amina Rasul, president of the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID), said “many areas that are highly vulnerable to projected temperature increases, impacts of El Niño events, salt-water intrusion, and sea level rise are in Muslim Mindanao.”

The forum was also meant to respond to the Muslim Seven Year Action Plan for Climate Change (M7YAP) that was crafted in Istanbul, Turkey in June 2009 for all Muslim countries, according to the Muslim youth leader. Rasul cited studies by Greenpeace and the National Statistics Coordination Board (NCSB) showing that ARMM is ranked first among all regions in terms of vulnerability to a one-meter rise in sea level.

…The Islamic world is particularly vulnerable to climate change because of the effects of rising sea levels, with their effects on Muslims living in coastal communities. … “With the more than five million Muslims that are in harm’s way, there is a need to engage and mobilize scientists, scholars and environmental organizations to conduct research and information and education activities on climate change and environmental sustainability,” she added.

The flag of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, created by Dn9ahx, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license