Interfaith Alliance Meets Indonesia's Environment Minister to Address Ecological Crisis Through Religious and Cultural Engagement

(Central News Agency reporter Lo Wei-chia, Jakarta, December 12) The Interfaith Moral Movement Alliance Siaga Bumi met with Indonesia's Minister of Environment in Jakarta today, reaching a consensus on cooperation to address the current threat of ecological collapse by changing public behavior toward the environment through cultural and religious guidance.

Religious faith runs deep in Indonesian society. Siaga Bumi, established in 2015, is a collaborative platform composed of representatives from six major religions—Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism—under the Indonesia Inter-Religious Council, alongside environmental researchers from academia.

The delegation was led by Siaga Bumi's Steering Committee Chair Din Syamsuddin, who met with Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat. Syamsuddin, formerly the Chairman of Muhammadiyah—the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia—holds significant influence within the country's Islamic community.

During the meeting, Syamsuddin presented the alliance's achievements, including the 'Green Religious Sites' initiative, which focuses on greening and beautifying the physical environments of religious sites, sustainable water resource management, and waste management. He explained that the program integrates environmental awareness into daily religious life and practices by leveraging the moral cohesion of religious communities.

Minister Jumhur expressed support for guiding public behavior through religious channels and revealed that the Ministry is preparing a nationwide 'Eco National Repentance' program. This includes reforestation through planting 2 billion trees and conducting data inventories of environmentally damaging industries to curb the ecological crisis. He emphasized that, in facing environmental challenges, the Ministry must employ social engineering and religious persuasion to influence and transform public environmental behavior, fostering national unity.

In a press release, Siaga Bumi stated that as a follow-up to this meeting, it will establish a partnership with the Ministry of Environment, mutually supporting each other to create synergies that fulfill commitments to environmental restoration and sustainability in Indonesia, and jointly assume responsibility for protecting the nation's natural resources. (Editor: Tang Sheng-yang) 1150613