Odeh Al-Jayoussi, the current vice president of Jordan’s Royal Scientific Society, has certainly had an interesting career. As well as working for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, he’s spent time at the City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and been a consultant for the United Nations, the EU and the World Bank.

All of these positions as well as his personal experiences have clearly informed his book Islam and Sustainable Development: New Worldviews which explores “a new paradigm of sustainability that is informed by Islamic worldviews and Islamic ecological ethics”. Indeed, the book includes lots of topics and stretches itself a little too broadly with chapters exploring Islamic banking systems, the role of the Muslim artist and the Islamic perspective on evolution. Still, a highly recommended read for those interested in sustainability and particularly those new to Islam’s contribution to the debate so far.

Al-Jayoussi starts by pointing out something that most of us will probably agree with. The current development model isn’t working – more money seems to be spent on aid every year and yet poverty keep rising. With this in mind, he states there is a need for a new model that promotes prosperity without overconsumption and pollution. Again, I would say most of us agree. The model that Al-Jayoussi presents is based on four Islamic principles which are then explored across four chapters.

These principles are:

1) Adl or good governance

2) Ihsan or excellence

3) Arham or social capital and

4) Integrity without corruption or Fasd

Bringing these four principles together is quite new and interesting and whilst he sets out the Islamic backing and advantages of following these principles, I think there are lots of questions left unanswered.

Is this model meant to be universal or specifically tailored to the region? If the latter than great but I got a sense it was meant to be universal which I find problematic for a couple of reasons. What about those religious communities or atheists in the MENA region/globally who want to move away from faith-based models? Where do they fit in? Shouldn’t more localised solutions to tackle the problem of climate change be considered? After all, it was the dominance of the Western development model which seems to have cause widespread problems. Isn’t it time we recognized the value of diversity?

A video featuring Odeh Al-Jayoussi

[vimeo 54954387 w=500 h=375]

Another issue which kept nagging me whilst reading this book is that the huge contrast between the Islamic principles and the way that Islamic countries actually operate.

Yes, colonialism has a lot to answer for and the author is honest that the framing of these Islamic principles around sustainable development is new but there were a couple of case studies which highlighted the consistent gap. For example, Al-Jayoussi points out the real compatibility between Islam and fairtrade principles. Yet a fairtrade movement emerged without Islamic principles and Islamic economies have played a limited role in the growth of the movement.

I was also worried that ‘a good idea’ wasn’t enough to make it reality. Although the author highlights the model as an Islamic worldview rather than faith-view, he didn’t fully explore its weaknesses or real life applicability. However, there’s a lot for also a lot of interesting bits of history and insights which I think will be referring back to regularly and would be of great interest to new readers exploring the Islam and sustainability nexus.

In terms of the unanswered questions, I got in touch with Al Jayoussi and spoke to him over the phone about these issues. The full interview and his insightful answers will be published shortly so keep an eye out for part two of this debate!

For more book reviews and green faith news see:

Sharing Eden – Green Teachings from Jews, Christians and Muslims
London Mosques Start Beekeeping Trend – Interview
The Eco-Mosque Checklist – 7 Steps to a Greener Mosque
Consumerism, Ecology and the Sabbath

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Officially inaugurated amid great pomp and circumstance, the building is small when compared to Dubai’s 2,717 foot Burj Al-Khalifa, but at 1,016 feet, it dwarfs the London Bridge Quarter in which it was built. But far from being a monument to Britain, the latest tallest building in western Europe is 95% owned by the government of Qatar.

The People Said No

During the building’s planning phase, UNESCO warned that its appearance on the city skyline could jeopardize the nearby Tower of London’s world heritage status and residents protested as well, but then deputy Prime Minister John Prescott approved the plans anyway.

“Mr Prescott would only approve skyscrapers of exceptional design,” his office announced in November, 2003. “For a building of this size to be acceptable, the quality of its design is critical. He is satisfied that the proposed tower is of the highest architectural quality.”

The 72-story mixed-use structure wrapped in steel and 11,000 panes of glass has a concrete core and cost in the region of £435 million to build. Within it are office facilities, three floors of restaurants, 10 flats that are on sale for £30-50 million a piece, and a deluxe Shangri-La hotel.

And because the development is backed by Sharia-compliant investment, tenants are subjected to certain rules.

Islamic banks are not permitted to make money from interest, though investors will make their money back somehow. Also, even though on the surface The Shard shouldn’t accommodate businesses that promote gambling or alcohol, it will be impossible to regulate said behavior among the mega-rich – the only people who will be able to afford to frequent the place.

The London Land Grab

In addition to being a vulgar display of Qatar’s wealth, The Shard’s domination of London’s skyline bears an uncanny resemblance to the land grabs in Africa.

George Monbiot recently exclaimed that peak oil isn’t as imminent as we thought and that we are cheerfully deep frying ourselves as a result, but Qatar is still planning for an eventual end to the heyday of easy oil and gas riches.

Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabor Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar and Prince Andrew Albert Edward, the Duke of York inaugurated the towering glass monument together as a symbol of the solid ties between the two nations.

Al Thani, according to a recent press release, stated “that the external investments embody the Qatar 2030 vision; a roadmap to achieve a diversified income that is independent from oil and gas revenues. Therefore, from an investment perspective, this landmark is the path towards realizing our objective.”

Qatar is doing well to secure its future, but at what cost to the locals? Like the Africans who are losing fertile acreage to Qatar and other food-insecure Gulf nations, Britain is losing its historical heritage to the moneymakers.

Writing for The Guardian, Aditya Chakraborrty warns that The Shard is the perfect metaphor for modern London.

So one of London’s most identifiable buildings will have almost nothing to do with the city itself. Even the office space rented out at the bottom is intended for hedge funds and financiers wanting more elbow room than they can afford in the City or Mayfair. The only working-class Londoners will presumably bus in at night from the outskirts to clean the bins. Otherwise, to all intents and purposes, this will be the Tower of the 1%.

Of course, Qatar is not the first country to assert itself outside of its own borders. China practically owns Africa, where it extracts natural resources en masse to keep the giant’s burgeoning population afloat, and Britain was one of the world’s most “successful” colonizers. But now it seems that maybe the tiny island nation is finally getting a taste of its own medicine?

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An Islamic bank in Jordan, Sanabel, has bought up over a quarter of a Congo forest for ‘sustainable projects’

When I first read about the acquisition of 500,000 hectares of high value forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo by an Islamic investment bank in Jordan, I thought one thing: land grab.

Over the last couple of years, countries across the MENA region have been buying tracts of land all over Africa. Worried about the rising cost of food as well as declining natural resources locally, they have been trying to make sure that their eggs (so to speak) aren’t all in one basket. Egypt has bought up land in Sudan, Saudi Arabia has staked a claim on land in Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates has farms in Sudan, Morocco and Algeria.

However, this latest land acquisition by Sanabel is a little more interesting as it claims to come with some green credentials. According to news reports, Sanabel which is Jordan’s first Islamic investment bank is considering a number of “Sharia’ compliant forestry activities” for the land it has purchased. These range from afforestation and reforestation projects, and protecting the land from deforestation and sustainable agro-forestry projects.

I have written about the ethical aspects of Islamic banking in the past and also the important role they could be playing in protecting the planet, so it’s great to see some action being taken. Indeed Al-Sanabel Chairman and CEO Khaldoun Malkawi explained that these activities are entirely compatible with Islamic banking principles since they simultaneously help to fight climate change by protecting biodiversity, reducing poverty and promoting corporate social responsibility.

Sanabel did however also add that this purchase is part of their plans to capitalise on the rapidly growing carbon trading market. This means that the company “will develop forest carbon credits projects that will protect the role of forests in mitigating climate change.”

As such Sanabel will be hoping to get companies to pay them to preserve the forestland in Congo and protect it from deforestation in return for carbon credits which help them meet their carbon reduction targets.

This is, however, where it gets a little messy.

Firstly, the carbon credit market has been widely criticised for allowing business to continue spewing lots of emissions. It turns out that buying carbon credits from schemes such as the one that Sanabel will be running is a lot cheaper and easier for businesses than actually cutting their own emissions.

So instead of protecting the environment and helping tackle global warming, these scheme just help companies continue their destructive practices.

The second issue that needs to be considered is the displacement of poor people living in these forests. For example, 70,000 indigenous people living in the western region of Gambella in Ethiopia were forced to relocate as the land had been living on was bought up by foreign investors. Saudi Star Agriculture Development was one of the companies implicated in this forced displacement.

Land ownership is a hugely contested issue and passing on ownership to a foreign government can only make the situation more complicated.

So while I’m happy to see Islamic banks consider green projects, I think they need to do better next time. They need to show that they aren’t out just to make a quick buck and also that they take their environmental responsibilities seriously.

Update March 2020: the website/Facebook page for Sanabel is down.

Images of Congo forest via bobulix/flickr.

For more on African land grab see:
Egypt to Grab Sudanese Land To Meet Its Wheat Needs
Africa Up For Sale, Is The Middle East Buying?
Arab States Buy Up Vast Tracts Of African Farmland

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Are Islamic banks anti-war? Islamic banks discourage investment in the arms and military industry as well as speculation and taking excessive risks

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by a fantastic organisation to look into Islamic banking and how ethical it really is. Whilst I learnt that most Islamic banks may not have the best environmental record, I did discover that they do have some distinct ethical selling points. One of which is their reluctance to invest in the arms industry as well as an aversion to speculation and excessive risks which can destabilize the market. At a time when no-one trusts their bank, Islamic banking doesn’t look like such a bad alternative to the conventional profit-driven financial system.

Islamic banking is based on Sharia or Islamic law which stipulates that making money from money is forbidden and that risks and profits must be shared. The first principles means that interest is not allowed but neither is investment into schemes where the source of the profit is vague. Islamic banks are consequently only allowed to invest in assets- real things like commodities, properties and natural resources. Although this means that there are less shady investments, there is a lot more investment in things like oil, gas and the mining of natural resources – something which is not good for the planet.

In fact, a close link between Islamic banks in the UK and the Middle East means that a lot of investment is in the oil producing industry which is polluting and harmful to the environment and future of this planet. There is only a vague understanding of the concept of environmental responsibility and that doesn’t go beyond recycling at the office to actually considering the kind of companies that they invest in.

Many of the banks I was commissioned to look at (those based in the UK) did however take a firm stand on investing in things like the tobacco industry and the arms and military sector. Nigel Denison, the Head of Wealth Management and Treasury at the Bank of London and the Middle East said, “Our bank complies with Sharia’a principles meaning that we aim to share reward and risk and not to act against the interest of the wider community. For example, we don’t invest in the arms and military industries, we don’t gamble or don’t take excessive risks or speculation with our investments.”

Whilst not all the banks take such a firm stand against investing in the arms industry, quite a few did which I found encouraging. So the Islamic banking sector may not have great green credentials but if you are also worried about those bankrolling the arms industry, than Islamic banks wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

: Image via Bitzi/flickr. 

For more on green and Islamic banking see:

Islamic Banking and Why It’s (Theoretically) Good For The Environment

Get a Green Loan From the Green Palestine Investment Company

Which Solar Technologies Have The Most Investment Appeal

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