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Islamic ministers to meet in Astana to discuss environmental problems

The Conference will also be attended by the representatives of concerned international and regional organisations

ASTANA, May 17 (Itar-Tass) —— More than 200 representatives from 57 Muslim countries and 25 international organisations will attend the V Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers to open in Astana on Thursday, May 17.

“The delegates to the forum to be held under the auspices of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) will discuss pressing environmental issues in the countries of the Muslim world and Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s initiatives: the Global Energy and Environment Strategy and the Green Bridge Partnership Programme,” the Kazakhstani Environment Ministry, which is one of the organisers of the forum, told Itar-Tass.

“Support for Kazakhstan’s initiatives by the Muslim world is very important ahead of the U.N. conference on sustainable development to be held in Brazil,” a ministry official said.

The organisers hope that “the conference will become a place for dialogue among Islamic countries and will help solve global environmental problems”.

The environment ministers of the 57 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation will discuss an updated draft of the General Framework of the Islamic Agenda for Sustainable Development, the draft Executive Plan for the Implementation of the Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Islamic Countries, and the draft Islamic Declaration on Sustainable Development within the framework of the Islamic world’s participation in the Rio+20 Summit.

The conference’s participants will also examine the draft document on “Green Economy: its Role and Relevance in Islamic Countries” and a progress report on implementation of the project of “Islamic Academy for the Environment and Sustainable Development”.

The conference will be organised by ISESCO and the General Presidency of Meteorology and Environment Protection (PME) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Conference will also be attended by the representatives of concerned international and regional organisations.

The Fifth Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers comes ten years after the convening of the first session in June 2002, in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during which a founding document entitled “Jeddah Commitments on Sustainable Development” was adopted, laying down the first pillars of joint Islamic action in the field of the environment.

The Fifth Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers takes on paramount importance considering that it will examine a number of reference documents aimed at developing joint Islamic action in the field of the environment at the level of OIC Member States through ISESCO.

One of the most important documents is the Draft Islamic Declaration on Sustainable Development” which will be presented as part of the participation of the Islamic world in the Rio+20 Summit, due to be held by the United Nations in Brazil, in June 2012.