Thursday, Sep 09, 2010
Gulf News
carbon footprint can be cut by 50%, green shAikh says
Dubai Close adherence to the traditions of Ramadan is good for the environment, one of the UAE’s green-living advocates, Dr Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, said.
If Muslims followed the customs of Ramadan closely, it would be possible to cut one’s carbon footprint by 50 per cent, he said.
However, those who abused or disobeyed the rules of Ramadan were bound to double their carbon footprint, he said.
Shaikh Abdul Aziz brought home the message of water conservation and environment preservation during Ramadan, at the Emirates Environment Group’s monthly community lecture on Tuesday.
Shaikh Abdul Aziz dubs himself the “Green Shaikh” and previously told Gulf News he had a carbon footprint a third smaller than others in his position.
At the community lecture he spoke about the spirituality and depth of the season in relation to global environmental and social issues. “How long do you spend in the shower?” he asked audience members to consider. “Do you think about the water running down the drain and the many litres you could save?”
In the UAE, residents used an average of 164,000 litres of water per person per year, more than in the US or the UK, Shaikh Abdul Aziz said.
The concept of stewardship — which requires all Muslims to be accountable for all their actions on earth — made every Muslim responsible for the preservation of nature, he said. Shaikh Abdul Aziz’s passion and concern for the environment stemmed from his childhood as inspired by his father, he said.
Environmental adviser
He is now the environmental adviser to the Ajman Government, where he is chairman of the Green Base Environmental Services and founder of the Majlis for Holistic Knowledge and Holistic Health.
The benefits of Ramadan were threefold — physical, mental and spiritual, he said. “Ramadan provides a unique time in which each and every one of us, no matter what our religion, can reflect on how we treat the environment, how we use resources and what we can do to help protect the precious planet that supports us,” he said.
Shaikh Abdul Aziz quoted a verse from the the Quran, saying: “The environment is Allah’s creation. The creation of this earth and all its natural resources is a sign of His wisdom, mercy, power and His attribute and therefore serves to develop human awareness and understanding of this creator.”
He said his passion for the environment deepened when he joined Robert Swan — the first person to walk to both the North and South poles — last year, on a journey to the Antarctic with the 2041 organisation. As the world’s last unspoilt wilderness, Antarctica is protected by a treaty prohibiting drilling and mining there until 2041.
Ramadan provides a unique time in which each and every one of us ... can reflect on how we treat the environment, how we use resources and what we can do to help protect the precious planet that supports us.”
Dr Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi
UAE’s green-living advocate
By Emmanuelle Landais Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
