Episode 11: Ummah for Earth + Greenpeace MENA - Nouhad Awwad
As always, you can read the full case study below and listen to our full interview on Apple Podcasts @Brym Labs… Here’s a look Inside the Episode:
Nouhad’s childhood growing up in Lebanon and her early Climate activist life.
Nouhad’s work with Ummah for Earth, Greenpeace MENA and her focus on uplifting Muslim voices in the climate action movement.
The future: what reason do we have to be optimistic? How do we embody a message of ‘hope and agency?’
Thank you so much for listening, everyone!
Intro
Next on our journey, we travel to the Middle East, to Lebanon, to meet with Nouhad Awwad! Nouhad represents Greenpeace MENA (Middle East and North Africa), specifically campaigning for the new Ummah for Earth Alliance.
While sadly I did not have a chance to meet with Nouhad in person this time around, I had the pleasure of hearing her speak on a panel during the COP26 conference back in Glasgow in October of last year… which feels like ages ago.
Nouhad was speaking as part of a discussion called ‘Faith in action to strengthen community-led and gender inclusive adaptation for climate justice.’ Along with Patriciah Roy Akullo, Waseem Ahmad, Shahin Ashraf and others, the conversation was focused on how faith-driven groups can take on leadership roles within the climate movement. Nouhad, through her work with Ummah for Earth and Greenpeace is creating a great example for other communities (of faith and otherwise) to learn from… can’t wait to share a tiny bit about her work with all of you.
Early Days
Nouhad was raised in Lebanon, and shared with me early memories of times with her mom where the emphasis was to always be thinking about how they could live with respect for the earth. From picnics where her mom would make sure they didn’t leave any trash behind, to making sure they limited waste in their home, her experiences growing up made her more aware of her relationship with the physical world around her. This reminds me a lot of my experience growing up with my mom who, when we had any free time, would always bring me to parks in New York. As a kid growing up in the city, time in those parks helped shape a lot of what I’m passionate about today.
Much like most of the great activists and organizers that I’ve met, Nouhad started out thinking locally. ‘How can I impact the people around me in my community?’ Taking part in different climate initiatives from an age of 14, like local beach cleanups, she continued her work and finally achieved an Undergraduate and Masters degree in Environmental Sciences.
Seeing her passion growing, one of her professors shared an opportunity for her to take on more responsibility and Nouhad went on to form the Arab Youth Climate Movement in Lebanon in 2012… Over time, her movement grew to expand across many different countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa like Egypt and Qatar until eventually she caught the attention of the United Nations.
In 2015, Nouhad received a scholarship from YUNGA to attend the UN negotiations in Paris and this is when her work went from Regional to Global. The UN invited her not only to attend but also to speak at this international gathering, becoming an important focal point and representative for young voices usually ignored or overlooked in global climate discussions.
Over time, Nouhad has had an important part to play in SO many different initiatives but I’ll name just a few below… her Linkedin shares much more!
YUNGA focal point for developing countries in 2017
Sustainable Development Network Ambassador for Arab Youth
Climate Action Network Regional Coordinator
All of this early work led to her joining Greenpeace MENA (Middle East & North Africa) as an organizer and campaigner. In 2019, through her role with Greenpeace, she helped launch the Ummah for Earth Alliance.
Ummah for Earth
The alliance is a special mixture of different Muslim-centered groups from around the world who have come together centered around shared values of sustainability and climate justice.
Ummah for Earth started in 2019, founded by Nouhad at Greenpeace MENA, along with 3-4 other organizations like GlobalOne, Islamic relief Worldwide and Greenpeace Indonesia. They had many goals, but principle amongst them were:
Raise inclusion of Muslim voices in the climate movement.
3 year goal → ‘Catalyze a new, resilient Muslism climate movement’
Reach new audiences and have Muslim voices heard.
The list of Alliance Members is growing, even since we first met in October of last year. A combination of organizations, individuals, movements, the alliance brings together a vast global community to share experiences and collaborate.
Here is the full list of the current Alliance Members
What are they Focused on?
I’ve been inspired by many things that they’re working on, I’ll name a few below:
This incredible initiative invites activists, academics, entrepreneurs, (faith) organizations, and more to share their own experiences on:
How climate change has affected their lives
AND stories of Action to show examples of how they are organizing themselves to build solutions.
Over 180 stories have been submitted to the platform across a broad range of topics… according to Nouhad, ‘Climate change intersects with so many different parts of peoples’ lives, we want to bring awareness around real life impacts.’
Another huge goal of the Ummah Stories initiative is to provide youth with a platform to engage with each other and celebrate success stories. The overall message is one of hope and agency… ‘change is possible and you can be a part of it.’ And they don’t have to change the world overnight, they can engage on whatever level they see that can make a difference..
During the month of Ramadan, this is the time for ‘good deeds’... so In this component of their work, they created a ‘Truth or Dare’ game that engaged 90,000 young Muslims across the world and challenged to take climate action during the holy month of Ramadan, with an emphasis on ‘taking a stewardship role for earth.’
Green guide to Hajj + Umrah !!!
For those who don’t know the difference (I didn’t), Hajj is an obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca (Makkah) that must be undertaken within 10 days of the start of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijjah. Umrah is that same pilgrimage to Mecca (Makkah) but can be undertaken by anyone at any given time of year.
As communities make their plans for these ‘visits’, Ummah for Earth launched an app that acts as a guide for how people can go about these religious traditions in a climate friendly way. Their goal is to help people move from an individual focus on the ritual itself to more collective action - how can we as a community think about these important moments and their relationship to the environment around us.
Green Mosques Initiative: Solar Project - Glasgow Central Mosque
Heading into COP26 last October, Ummah for Earth put their money where their mouth is and partnered with the Glasgow Central Mosque to install solar panels on their roof.
With the event transpiring in the city, Nouhad’s initiative showed that Faith communities could step up and lead the change.
What does Climate Justice mean for U4E?
While everyone seems to have a different opinion of what ‘climate justice’ or ‘climate action’ means today, Nouhad’s answer was simple: ‘Playing an active role in protecting the planet.’
I appreciate that she leaves her answer open ended so that any young person can find their own entry point into the fight… for those looking for more detail, she offered:
Raising awareness on mitigation and adaptation on local community levels
Pushing for change on the legislative side
Looking into the future, Nouhad accepts the many challenges in our way, but like her Alliance, she flips the narrative towards hope… there is a lot of good work she is seeing in her region and across the world that seems to be leading to a snowball effect. Hugely important in her mind, indigenous voices are being raised and people are waking up to the reality of needing those communities at the decision making table.
Looking Forward
I’ve had the pleasure of dreaming with Nouhad about what a new future could look like for our generation and for those to come… we’ve spoken about ‘A Global Coalition of Youth’ - what would this look like? How would it come together? I think U4E and Nouhad are a fantastic Sign of Hope for our world and clearly onto something very special.
As I’ve been writing this, Nouhad’s narrative has also pushed me to grapple with my own beliefs regarding faith and what impact it can / should have in connection to climate change. I grew up going to church every Sunday but I’ve fallen off in my consistency, largely because I think I have a different relationship with God that might fall a bit outside the guard-rails that organized religion prescribes… anyway, at the end of the day, whether you’re Christian, Muslim, or anywhere in between, I think one lesson here for me is that the best parts of the faith groups I’ve been a part of are the communities that come together around shared values to support each other in times of need and make a positive impact for those that need it the most… And Nouhad, to that point, is showing that faith can be a powerful organizer to speak to people’s value systems and encourage everyone into a common narrative for climate action.
Get involved!: Sign the Pledge of Ummah for Earth and share your stories!
