Pope Francis signs the appeal with the current Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb, in the background. Photo: AFP
Pope Francis signs the appeal with the current Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb, in the background. Photo: AFP
Pope Francis signs the appeal with the current Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb, in the background. Photo: AFP
Pope Francis signs the appeal with the current Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb, in the background. Photo: AFP

Religious leaders make Cop26 plea not to leave 'a desert' to children


Jamie Prentis
  • English
  • Arabic

Religious figures have urged world leaders to agree on ambitious climate action at Cop26 and ensure “a desert” is not left to younger generations.

In a joint appeal from Islamic, Christian, Jewish and other religious leaders, they said there needed to be a “new kind of economics” that is ecologically friendly, and “promotes the virtue of sufficiency and condemns the wickedness of excess”.

The message was signed at a ceremony in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican and handed over to Cop26 president Alok Sharma. The current Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb, was among those in attendance.

The UN climate summit is set to take place in Glasgow, Scotland later this month.

“We have inherited a garden; we must not leave a desert to our children,” the appeal read.

The Glasgow summit aims to secure more ambitious commitments to limit global warming to well below 2°C with a goal of keeping it to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels. The religious leaders said it was important that governments adopted a trajectory that hit the latter target.

They also urged leaders to protect indigenous peoples and local communities, who were described as “caretakers of the earth for millennia”.

"Cop26 in Glasgow represents an urgent summons to provide effective responses to the unprecedented ecological crisis and the crisis of values that we are presently experiencing, and in this way to offer concrete hope to future generations," Pope Francis said.

"We want to accompany it with our commitment and our spiritual closeness.”

The pontiff said "each of us has his or her religious beliefs and spiritual traditions, but no cultural, political or social borders or barriers prevent us from standing together”.

The leader of the Catholic Church, who has repeatedly called for climate action, is expected to attend Cop26 although the Vatican has not yet confirmed this.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby called for a "a pilgrimage to a clean economy, which decreases carbon emissions and increases renewable energy development and use".

"We have in the last 100 years declared war on the creation," he said, adding there must be a "dramatic and rapid change in taxation and trade rules" in favour of a more sustainable economic model.

"The world has just enough time to get this right," he insisted.

The appeal by the religious figures insisted that wealthier countries must take the lead in reducing their own emissions and in financing poorer nations' emission reductions.

“We appeal to governments to raise their ambitions and their international co-operation to: favour a transition to clean energy; adopt sustainable land use practices including preventing deforestation, restoring forests and conserving biodiversity; transform food systems to become environmentally friendly and respectful of local cultures; end hunger; and to promote sustainable lifestyles and patterns of consumption and production,” they said.

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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8

Transmission: nine-speed automatic

Power: 630bhp

Torque: 900Nm

Price: Dh810,000

Best Foreign Language Film nominees

Capernaum (Lebanon)

Cold War (Poland)

Never Look Away (Germany)

Roma (Mexico)

Shoplifters (Japan)

How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO

Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
 
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
UAE v Oman - abandoned
Oman v Namibia - abandoned

Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.” 

LA LIGA FIXTURES

Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)

Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)

Friday

Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)

Valencia v Levante (midnight)

Saturday

Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)

Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)

Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)

Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)

Sunday

Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)

Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)

Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)

THE SPECS

Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)

Power: 141bhp 

Torque: 250Nm 

Price: Dh64,500

On sale: Now

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Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Updated: October 05, 2021, 11:55 AM`