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Jakarta turns to religious leaders to fight air pollution
The religious leaders are expected to create training modules for climate programs as well as guidelines for sermons.
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Residents wear masks while waiting for public transportation on the roadside in Jakarta on July 7. (JP/Valerie Halim)
W
hile struggling to bring down air pollution in the city, the Jakarta administration is eyeing help from religious leaders to raise people’s awareness to act together to overcome the problem.
In collaboration with Bonn-based ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, a global network of towns, cities and regions committed to building a sustainable future, the Jakarta administration will provide modules and organize training programs about climate change viewed from religious perspectives.
The religious leaders from six official religions in Indonesia—Islam, Protestant, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhism and Confucianism—will be involved to create the modules of the training programs. The modules are also expected to become guidelines in religious sermons.
ICLEI-Local Government for Sustainability Indonesia country manager Gina Karina said Jakartans needed to take active roles in reducing greenhouse gas emissions if they wanted the city to achieve the administration’s target of reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
“Jakarta residents’ contribution is very important to reduce carbon emissions in the capital city. Upon discussions with the city administration, we believe that religious leaders could have a great influence on encouraging people to reduce pollution,” she told the media on the sidelines of an MoU signing ceremony for the climate programs on Thursday.
This month, Gina said, the ICLEI would host a discussion with representatives of the six religions to draft an outline for the modules about combating climate change from a multireligion perspective. The modules are expected to be printed by December before they would be used as guidelines for the religious leaders in preaching about environmental issues.
“We are inviting some 18 religious leaders from the six religions to participate in the initial phase of the training program, before increasing the number to 120 people in the next phase,” she said.
