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Transforming values into green lifestyle
Religiously inclined people should be aware that environmental preservation is an inherent part of religion or religiosity. #opinion
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No plastic: Eggplants, water spinach, asparagus and many other fresh vegetables at a supermarket in Ubud, Bali, are wrapped in banana leaves and bamboo ties. (The Jakarta Post/Ni Komang Erviani)
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recent global survey found that Indonesia has the highest percentage of climate change deniers in the world. Among Indonesian respondents, 18 percent were deniers, followed by Saudi Arabians (16 percent) and Americans (13 percent). This is an alarming revelation compared to expressed commitments of the government to address climate change even before joining the Paris Agreement in 2016.
An international internet-based market research and data analytics firm, the YouGov-Cambridge Center, partnered with The Guardian daily and the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom to produce the YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project. This study on populism and globalization includes national samples, each comprising about 1,000 people in 23 countries.
Psychology studies have explained that the reason people reject indubitable science like climate change is not ignorance, but because they “cherry pick” the facts that back up what they already believe to be true.
This means that something needs to be strengthened in the current science communication strategy. Finding out what climate skeptics can agree on and then frame climate messages to align with those is important.
In Indonesia, religion could be an entry point. A PEW research found that 84 percent of Indonesians practice religion daily. Religious values and teachings thus could increase awareness and engage individuals to perform environmentally friendly behavior. Unfortunately, we rarely hear from clerics about the issue.
According to Islamic teachings, everything in the environment is a sign from God. Yet, human activities have caused environmental destruction and degradation.
So, people should learn from that history, as reflected in Surah Ar-Rum verse 41-42. One noted translation reads: “Corruption doth appear on land and sea because of [the evil] which men´s hands have done, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return.”
