Muslim Environment Watch

The aim of Muslim Environment Watch is twofold: to give information on developments, innovations, trends, and projects concerning the environment which have taken place throughout the Arab and Muslim world as well to keep track of developments in the field of religious Islamic environmental rulings.

Environment, climate change, pollution etc. have occupied world wide attention, including the Arab and Muslim world, since the 1980s. Especially during the last twenty years, more and more environmental organizations have been established throughout the Arab and Muslim world and the awareness to environmental issues has increased.

Muslim religious scholars have published books and religious rulings concerning environmental issues and recently, even radical Islamic groups could not ignore the subject and started to publish their own solutions to environmental and climate change issues.

The ever-increasing awareness to the subject has caused Arab and Muslim governments and organizations to initiate environmental projects, such as preservation of nature, green businesses, water purification and more. As a result, more and more businesses, whose mail scope is the environment, have been established in the Arab and Muslim world.

The Arab and Muslim world attracts many foreign investors and investments in these kinds of projects. because of the great importance of these issues, even cooperation and joint projects between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been taking place.

Thus, this blog will keep track of new developments in this field within the Arab and Muslim world by way of bringing preliminary sources in English, Arabic and other languages; articles describing new developments; articles on the subject; and regular updates concerning interesting developments and projects happening now in this subject throughout the Arab and Muslim world. The blog is going to be updated regularly.

This blog aims to be a home for whoever is interested in the subject and for whoever wants to write on it.

The administrator and writer of this blog is Dr. Moshe Terdman, who has written on the subject of environmental security and who has conducted research and lectured on the subject of Islam and the environment and the environmental policy and projects in the Arab and Muslim world. Dr. Terdman is a writer for Green Prophet, a website dealing with the environment in the Middle East and in the 2010 – 2011 academic year he is giving two courses in the Department of Geography and Environmental Development at the Ben Gurion University: one on Islam and the Environment, and the other on Environmental Policy in the Middle East. Dr. Terdiman is also a research fellow in the Ezri Center for Iran & Persian Gulf Studies, University of Haifa, where he deals with environmental issues in the Arab and Muslim world.

In February 2011, Dr. Moshe Terdman established Green Compass Research in order to enable individuals, companies, NGOs, and decision makers to better understand the Arab and Muslim world as well as to help businessmen and companies to become integrated in environmental business activities throughout the Arab and Muslim world.

Green Compass Research is conducting research and analysis upon request as well as its own on socio-economic, cultural, and environmental issues throughout the Arab and Muslim world, such as: food crisis, environmental security challenges facing the Arab and Muslim world, food security, energy security, water security, Islam and the environment, conversion to Islam, students and unemployment, sports, shame and honor in Arab culture, demography, urbanization, youth movements, islamization processes, charities, etc. It is also giving business intelligence services to individuals, companies, NGOs, state institutions and ministries and whoever else interested specifically in becoming integrated in environmental business activities throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Moreover, it gives consultancy services on the above mentioned topics to individuals, companies, NGOs, and decision makers.

Thus, Green Compass Research is filling a void in the understanding of the Arab and Muslim world. Currently, the Arab and Muslim world has been mostly understood through the prism of politics, regimes, Iran vs. the Arab world, radical Islam, Sunnis vs. Shi’ites, etc. Compass Green Research is focusing its attention on much deeper currents prevalent in Arab and Muslim societies, which have suddenly sprung throughout the Arab world as well as in some Muslim countries as from December 2010. The understanding of these currents will be necessary for everyone who deals with Arabs and Muslims worldwide.

Dr. Terdman is available for consulting work for private, institutional and governmental entities on these subjects.