Islamic Relief (IR) has started a series of Talanoa Dialogues on Climate Change which will be held across country and partner offices over the next few months.
Talanoa is the Fijian word for story-telling that leads to a consensus when making decisions. Fiji is the president this year of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and has invited civil society and local government to take part in a global Talanoa Dialogue.
A Talanoa Dialogue presents a chance for people to sit together and listen to each other without prejudice or judgment. Stories about vulnerability and assessing current climate action are shared with the intention of seeking concrete solutions to tackle climate change.
Fiji has vowed that these stories and suggestions will be put before the governments who are committed to the Paris Agreement as they draw up their new 5 year plans for combatting climate change.
As Islamic Relief, people of faith and people of conscience, we have a moral obligation not to harm others, to be fair, to care for the vulnerable, to provide for our children and respect our parents.
Climate change is disrupting the balance of nature. We are entrusted with the care of the Earth and climate change is harming our planet. Climate change hurts the most vulnerable now, and in the future.
We need action at all levels – governments, businesses, nations,communities our personal lives and in our work for Islamic Relief. A Talanoa Dialogue is our chance to take action now by bringing people together to share stories, build empathy and to make wise decisions for the collective good. People can take part in a Talanoa with the knowledge they have, sharing ideas, skills and experience through storytelling.
The questions are broad to allow people to consider what is important to them. There are three questions:
- Where are we?
- Where do we want to go?
- How do we get there?
Suggestions will be put together with ideas from across the Islamic Relief family and presented to the UN. They will also be used to help review the IR Climate Change Policy.
The Islamic Relief Talanoa Dialogue Toolkit, with suggestions how to conduct the consultations and what questions might be asked, is available here.