https://thesolutionsjournal.com/2015/6/noteworthy
Idea Lab Noteworthy
Takver
At the conclusion of COP21 on December 12, approximately 30,000 people participated in a march for climate action and climate justice, walking from the Arc de Triomphe to the Eiffel Tower.
Why We Need an Atmospheric Trust by Colleen Maney Many hailed the recent UN climate change conference in Paris as a success, with a historic agreement adopted to keep global temperature rises below 2ºC. But, how do we achieve this? Climate victories across the globe in the past year show that people grew tired of waiting on slow government action against climate change well before the meeting in Paris. In March 2015, a court in New Mexico ruled that the state has a duty to protect its natural resources and the atmosphere
on behalf of the people of New Mexico. Shortly afterwards, in June, a Dutch court ordered the government to cut the country’s emissions by at least 25 percent in the next five years. In November, an unlikely group of teenagers took on the Washington State Department of Ecology in an effort to enact a carbon emissions rule to protect future generations. They won. Each of these cases called upon the public trust doctrine, arguing community property rights over the atmospheric commons. According to this doctrine, all nations are co-trustees in the global atmospheric trust, making each government responsible for
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protecting the commons from damaging activities. This global atmospheric trust could then collect claims for damages to the commons directly from the parties responsible—not a difficult task, as only approximately 90 enterprises currently account for two-thirds of global carbon emissions. In the wake of the Paris conference, campaigners for a global atmospheric trust have drafted an open letter encouraging the Vulnerable 20 countries (those facing the greatest risks from climate change) to create such a trust. The letter is open to all, and already counts many prominent world leaders and thinkers among its signatories.
Idea Lab Noteworthy Civil society must add its weight to this movement in order to overcome corporate resistance. Read the letter at claimthesky.org, sign it, and make your voice heard in this call for action to take back our skies.
Climate Change to be Top Priority in Muslim World by Zafirah Zein
Environment Ministers from more than 50 Muslim countries have come up with a joint declaration on environmental protection and sustainable development. At the 6th Islamic Conference in Morocco, members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened to discuss ways to combat climate change and deal with obstacles to sustainable development. In the declaration, countries were urged to commit to a number of key goals. These included pursuing green economies, raising awareness about the importance of eradicating poverty, creating a new energy operating system, and adopting standards for good practices in sustainable governance. “Climate change is a serious threat, especially to the developing world. It is only through collective action that we will overcome one of the pressing challenges of our generation,” said OIC secretary general Iyad Ameen Madani, who is the former Information Minister of Saudi Arabia. Global warming is due to have drastic effects in the Middle East. A recently published study in the journal Natural Climate Change predicts that countries in the Arabian Gulf and parts of Iran will be uninhabitable in the future due to extreme heatwaves predicted to sweep over the region after 2070.
Oxfam International
A Bangladeshi woman stands in flood water near the camp she has been living in for five months, since her house was destroyed by climate related flooding. She holds a sign urging world leaders at the UN to fight climate poverty. Environment-linked disasters have led to widespread poverty in Bangladesh and other vulnerable OIC member states.
Professor Elfatih Eltahir of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who co-conducted the study, said, “We would hope that information like this would be helpful in making sure there
is interest [in cutting carbon emissions] for the countries in the region. They have a vital interest in supporting measures that would help reduce the concentration of CO2 in the future.”
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Idea Lab Noteworthy The OIC, founded in 1969, is the second largest inter-governmental organization in the world and includes some of the world’s least developed countries. It includes conflict-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq and huge resource-dependent states such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Developing nations are most vulnerable to global warming, and while some wealthier oil-rich Muslim countries might be able to afford protection against rising temperatures, poor countries like Yemen will suffer. Food security also remains a critical issue in many of the OIC member states. Famines have occurred in Somalia and Mali in the last five years, and environment-linked disasters have led to widespread poverty in Bangladesh, which was ranked by the World Bank as one of the 12 countries most vulnerable to climate change. Conserving the environment has a distinct place in Islamic thought as the religion prioritizes meeting the needs of present and future generations without destroying natural balance or excluding any segments of society. A form of sustainable development within Islam that has gained traction in recent years is Islamic finance, in which financial institutions are governed by both Islamic law and regular banking rules. At the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, Chief Economist of the Islamic Development Bank Savas Alpay said, “In mobilizing resources for the Sustainable Development Goals, non-traditional sources of financing need to be given due attention. In this context, Islamic finance is offering a very promising alternative.” The Bank announced in July that it would be increasing development assistance to more than USD$150
billion to support short- and longterm environmental, social and economic projects in member states of the OIC. While the OIC declaration is not legally binding to member states, it is an important rallying call in a region that has not taken a strong lead in the climate debate.
Local Food Distribution Going Global by Gord Stewart
From Waiheke Island, New Zealand, to the World, exporting bits, not bites: Ooooby is on a mission to make local food convenient, affordable, and fair everywhere. And, with money recently raised on the equity crowdfunding platform PledgeMe, it can now set a path to do just that. Ooooby—which stands for “Out of our own backyards”—connects growers directly with customers, while in the process reducing transport, handling, packaging, warehousing, and merchandising costs. The result is fairly-priced, fresh food (much of it organic) for customers and the opportunity for small producers (even home gardeners) to enter the market. Seventy thousand boxes of locally produced food delivered to 5,000 households in five years is good proof that the system works. From its launch in the Auckland area, Ooooby has added other food hubs in New Zealand and has already entered the market in Sydney and in Fresno, California. As a committed social enterprise, Ooooby aims to address genuine need, focus on value over profit, and care about stakeholders (customers, community, and the broader environment) at least as much as it does about shareholders.
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“Crowdfunding was chosen as our capital-raising method because it perfectly aligns with the philosophy of food for the people, by the people,” said Ooooby co-founder, Peter Russell. The newly invested funds will be used to perfect, expand, and market their software and systems to allow local food hubs anywhere to launch and grow at speed without the typical trial and error misadventures. All you need are 150 households wanting local food delivered weekly to their door to make the service viable. Ooooby charges a small fee for use of the software system and a bit more if the local organization wants some hands-on help in the early stages. Consistent with the goal of reducing environmental impact through local food production and paying farmers a generous 50 per cent of the retail value of food sold to customers is Ooooby’s uncommon investment approach. The founders have transferred 90 percent of their shares to the Ooooby Foundation, with any dividends earned used to support projects such as community gardens, food-growing education, and buying land for local food production. Investors will not receive cash dividends. Instead, their earnings can be converted to Ooooby store vouchers if they have a hub nearby, or contributed to local food production initiatives. Crowdfunding and social enterprises like Ooooby are part of an unfolding story, building on the likes of triple bottom-line accounting, benefit corporations, and companies making natural capital declarations. These are all developments that give hope for the sustainable and desirable future we so need.
Idea Lab Noteworthy
Ooooby
Locally produced food is packaged by an Ooooby worker for delivery to a customer.
Hijabi Model for H&M Signals Inclusive Future for Fashion by Zafirah Zein Earlier this year, Samantha Elauf won a court case against upscale clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) after the label denied her a job seven years ago. Known for their East Coast collegiate style, the brand cited that Elauf violated its look policy by wearing the headscarf. While A&F decided that the headscarf does not fit their allAmerican image, popular Swedish retailer H&M recently embraced the hijab with its newest Muslim model.
Twenty-three-year-old Mariah Idrissi is the first hijabi model to be hired by the world’s second largest retailer. She is featured in the label’s latest video, called “Close the Loop,” which aims to promote clothes recycling. The video’s models range in nationality, gender, and size. Not only is H&M helping to increase the positive visibility of veiled Muslim women, it is also giving them representation in an industry that has long excluded them. Until recently, Muslim women, and especially hijab-donning women, have been absent in modern, mainstream fashion. While societies grow increasingly diverse and the fashion world seeks to become more global, the stylish Muslim woman has yet to
have much influence in the Western fashion industry. Although the biggest names in fashion have opened up to a range of unconventional and traditional styles, Muslim women are not represented in this global identity. Things are evolving, however, as successful brands commit more to diversity in order to broaden their customer demographic. While the intersection of faith and fashion has been a contentious issue within Muslim communities, recent years have seen the rise of the fashion-savvy Muslim woman, who sports fashion’s latest trends while keeping in line with the modesty that is deeply encouraged by her faith. She cannot be found on billboards
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Idea Lab Noteworthy
Febrianto Pudi Utama
Hijab fashion models pose in a photoshoot for a fashion boutique based in Jakarta, Indonesia.
or commercials, but her presence makes waves on various social media platforms. With thousands of girls following her style on Facebook and Instagram, she has been coined the “hijabster,” a term that fuses hijab with, essentially, being hip. “Even though fashion with hijab has been going on for years, we’re really seeing it more with Instagram and Twitter and Facebook and everything,” said Idrissi in a video by the BBC. “Over the last few years, it’s really boomed.” In many countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, hijabsters model for the trendiest local retailers, and bigger brands are cashing in by
producing clothing more catered to Muslim customers. British–Egyptian influential online personality and fashion designer Dina Torkia is often seen on Instagram dishing sartorial tips while decked out in pieces from notable labels Zara and Mango. These brands are also slowly reaching out to Muslim fashionistas by coming up with specialty collections made available during the month of Ramadan. Another example is well-known Japanese retail company Uniqlo, which recently collaborated with Muslim fashion blogger and designer Hana Tajima on a modest clothing line. It launched two months ago in Singapore and offers pieces that
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blend comfortable fabrics with both contemporary and traditional designs. A hijab line is included in the collection. In an op-ed for ELLE, founder of online retailer Haute Hijab, Melanie Elturk, responded to H&M’s latest hire, saying “The significance of Mariah Idrissi wearing hijab in the H&M campaign is noteworthy for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that she’s fiercely stylish in her hijab. Mariah represents the millions of hijab-wearing women who have a voice, who are pumping with intellect and enthusiasm, and who possess a very real need to find appropriate modest clothing.”