KLH Partners with Interfaith Organizations in Ecological Conversion

Minister of LH/Head of BPLH Moh Jumhur Hidayat (second from right) and Chairman of the Earth Alert and IRI Indonesia Steering Team, Din Syamsuddin (center) in a meeting at the KLH/BPLH Office, Jakarta, Friday, June 12. (Dok. KLH)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Environment (KLH) has partnered with cross-religious organizations to strengthen collaboration to expand the moral movement to maintain the earth in the form of ecological repentance in the face of various environmental crises.

The Minister of Environment (LH)/Head of the Environment Control Agency (BPLH) Moh Jumhur Hidayat held a meeting with the Earth Alert Movement and the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative (IRI) Indonesia led by Din Syamsuddin, at the KLH/BPLH Office, Jakarta, Friday (12/6).

In a statement confirmed in Jakarta, Sunday, he said the meeting discussed the importance of strengthening moral and spiritual values through the ecological repentance movement.

"Efforts to save the environment cannot only rely on technical policies and law enforcement. We need a moral movement that grows from a shared awareness, including from religious communities, to keep the earth a trust for future generations," said the Minister of Jumhur.

In the meeting, he highlighted that environmental protection requires the involvement of all elements of the nation, including religious communities which have a strong influence in shaping public awareness.

Religious values can be an important foundation in encouraging behavioral changes towards environmental awareness.

KLH/BPLH also continues to encourage the strengthening of the approach to climate justice and behavioral changes in society, including through environmental education, law enforcement, and strengthening the green economy. In this context, the involvement of religious figures is seen as increasingly important to expand the reach of education and build public awareness.

He said that strengthening interreligious collaboration through the ecological conversion approach was one of the keys to accelerating changes in people's behavior. This approach places the environmental crisis not only as a technical problem, but also as a moral and spiritual call for humans to return to maintaining the balance of nature.

On the same occasion, the Chairman of the Earth Alert and IRI Indonesia Steering Team, Din Syamsuddin, conveyed that this cross-religious movement was a form of moral responsibility of religious people in facing the environmental crisis.

According to the former Chairman of the General Assembly of the Muhammadiyah PP for the period 2005-2010 and 2010-2015, all religions have teachings that are in harmony in maintaining nature and life.

"This is a cross-religious moral movement to save the earth. We see that all religions teach the value of goodness and responsibility towards nature, so this collaboration becomes a great force to encourage real change in society," said Din Syamsuddin.