05/06/2025
Message of Coordinator General OIC- COMSTECH
H.E. Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary
"Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it is a present-day crisis with devastating impacts across the globe, particularly in the developing world. On this World Environment Day, I invite all stakeholders in the OIC community to recognize the scale of the environmental emergency and act with urgency, unity, and scientific rigor.
According to the Global Climate Risk Index 2024, many countries in the OIC region are among the top ten most climate-vulnerable nations in the world. Despite contributing less than 2.5% to global greenhouse gas emissions, many OIC member states face recurring climate-induced disasters, including floods, droughts, desertification, landslides, and extreme heat.
Rising temperatures in parts of the Global South now regularly exceed 50°C, posing lethal risks to human health and agriculture. Glacial melt in mountainous regions that feed major rivers is accelerating due to global warming, threatening the water and food security of more than 2 billion people.
OIC member states many of which lie in arid, semi-arid, and coastal zones are grappling with an increased frequency of droughts, desertification, sea-level rise, and biodiversity loss. The Sahel region, for example, is warming at a rate two to three times faster than the global average, resulting in crop failures and displacement of communities. Small Island OIC states such as the Maldives and Comoros face existential threats due to rising sea levels. Meanwhile, air pollution in major OIC cities like Cairo, Dhaka, and Lahore exceeds safe limits by several multiples, contributing to millions of premature deaths each year.
At OIC-COMSTECH, we are mobilizing the scientific and academic community across the OIC region to confront these challenges through strategic initiatives. These include technology transfer and collaborative research in renewable energy, climate-resilient agriculture, and water conservation. We are also investing in capacity building through training programs in climate modeling, environmental data analytics, and ecosystem management. In 2022, COMSTECH launched the Forum on Environment and Ecosystem Restoration (CFEER), a dedicated platform to promote South-South cooperation, knowledge exchange, and joint action on climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem restoration aligned with global sustainability frameworks.
We firmly believe that science, technology, and innovation (STI) must be at the core of climate resilience strategies in the Muslim world. On this World Environment Day, let us reaffirm our shared responsibility to protect our natural environment through evidence-based policymaking, international cooperation, and a steadfast commitment to sustainability. The future of our planet and the well-being of two billion people in the OIC community depend on what we choose to do today.
