Green Creation 

According to a new UN report, as reported by the BBC, climate change, environmental degradation and badly planned urban development are more likely to affect populations around the world. The report warns that millions of lives are in jeopardy because proper risk assessment is rarely carried out, particularly in developing countries.

What will we say on Day of Judgment? As Muslims we know we should pray, fast etc, but in the end they are the means to ensure the aims of Shariah: protection of life, dignity, offspring, property. So shall we heed the advice of the UN, which says spending money on risk reduction is a good investment - while loss of life, property and livelihoods is very costly.

For more info: UN's International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the Global Assessment Report itself.

YES, this information finally made it to mainstream news: keeping flights cheap (airplane kerosene is fuel duty exempt!) so 'poor can fly' is nonsense... poor could NEVER afford to fly, but now openly asking for flights to reflect more their true environmental cost as poorest are affected most by climate change. According to an article in The Guardian, negotiators at UN climate talks in Bonn (Germany, in preparation for final meeting in Copenhagen in December) were told by the world's poorest 49 countries (called 'LDCs' or 'least developed'; as an aid worker I know all too well there is hunger and disease around the world, though in some other aspects believe that 'poor' countries are much richer than the 'developed world') that the annual 760m international air passengers should each pay a levy of about $6 (£5.4) on every flight to help those nations adapt to climate change, thus raising up to $10bn (£6.8bn) a year and help countries in the frontline of climate change adapt to the intense floods, droughts, sea level rises and crop failures that poor nations are experiencing as a result of global warming.

I suggest the rich are lucky that those already suffering from the consequences of our actions ask for so little. I prefer to pay the full pay in this life instead of wiggling out and be served with rest of bill on Day of Judgment. I pray for a positive outcome (for the planet, for us all, including future generations, not a quick buck for us in the short term)