Presentation ot the COP22’s Summit of Conscience

This Monday, May 9^th, 2016, was held the Summit of Conscience of the COP22 at the Botanic Garden of Rabat, under the patronage of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council of Morocco.

In this realm of peace and biological diversity, associated to the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), and classified as World Heritage by the UNESCO, the Centre for Research and Training in Interfaith Relations, organizer of the Summit and associated to the Rabita Mohammadiyya  of Ulamas, and to the Islamic Culture Foundation (FUNCI), has held a festive and raising-awareness one-day event on the importance of the Summit of Conscience, which will materialize in the COP22.

The event was attended by the President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Nizar Baraka; the Secretary General of the Rabita Mohammadiyya of Ulamas, Ahmed Abbadi; the President of the Islamic Culture Foundation, Cherif Abderrahman Jah; the President of the Centre for Research and Training in Interfaith Relations, Aicha Haddou, and INRA’s Secretary General, Rachid Dahan. Likewise, the Summit was attended by many political, cultural and scientific personalities.

Cultural and spiritual dimension

The representatives of the COP22 Summit of Conscience, Baraa, Abbadi, and Haddou, have highlighted during their interventions that its goal is to raise awareness from a moral point of view, but also from a spiritual one, among opinion leaders in the fields of religion, philosophy, culture and ethics. And thus, not only from an institutional and collective perspective, but also at an individual level. Likewise, the importance of passing this responsibility to the future generations was also emphasized, in order to preserve the right to a healthy and sustainable environment through different tools, especially visual and educative, because, as it was declared by Nizar Baraka, the COP22 will be a COP of action.

The Islamic Culture Foundation, involved in the restoration of the Botanic Garden of Rabat, which was inaugurated by H.M. the king of Morocco in 2013, has also contributed to the ceremony through the projection of a short film explaining their “Med‑O‑Med, cultural landscapes of the Mediterranean and the Middle East” international network. In it, Cherif Abderrahman Jah describes the concept of nature within Islam and the big respect the Islamic civilization (that “green civilization”) has shown to nature and to the responsible exploitation of their resources.

Then, the 15 year-old-young Moroccan entrepreneur, Camil Chaari, presented by the European Union Ambassador, Rupert Joy, made a magnificent presentation of his project, the company E‑Recycling, dedicated to the recycling of electronic detritus in Morocco. The very young Nour Rouwane presented the activities carried out by the youths at the environmental Club Alfitra, which is part of the Rabita Mohammadiyya.

The event was completed with several stands from different Moroccan environmental NGOs, a visit to the Andalusi garden and to the museum on water in Al‑Andalus, conceived by the FUNCI, a demonstration of flower distillation, and a sample of delicious traditional “homemade” products, all these accompanied by the Andalusi singings directed by Nouredine Tahiri.