Environmental Responsibility and Global Citizenship

Why caring for the environment is a moral issue

Environmental decisions affect more than the person making them. Pollution can damage other people’s health, while destruction of habitats threatens the living things with which humans share the planet. The consequences can also last beyond our own lifetimes. Environmental responsibility therefore concerns what we owe to the natural world, other people and future generations.

Muslims and Humanists can agree that protecting the environment matters while giving different explanations for that duty. For Muslims, it is connected to responsibility towards Allah and his creation. For Humanists, it follows from evidence about environmental harm and concern for the wellbeing of humans and other living things.

Allah’s creation and the role of khalifah

Qur’an 7:54 teaches that Allah created the heavens and the earth and has authority over creation. For Muslims, the world is therefore not simply human property to use without limits. It belongs to Allah, which gives people a reason to respect and care for it.

A khalifah is a steward: someone entrusted with caring for something rather than owning it absolutely. Muslims understand humanity’s role on earth in this way. Stewardship allows people to use natural resources, but does not justify exploiting or destroying them. Humans should care for the world so that future generations can also live in it.

This belief turns environmental care into a religious responsibility. Recycling, reducing pollution, replanting trees, improving energy efficiency and using renewable energy can all express stewardship. Muslims also believe that Allah will judge how they have lived, including how they have treated the environment. Responsibility is therefore not limited to obeying environmental laws or avoiding consequences during this life.

Fitra and living in harmony with the world

Fitra, also written fitrah, is the natural human disposition to recognise Allah and goodness. In relation to the environment, it encourages people to treat Allah’s creation rightly and live in harmony with it. Caring for the natural world can also help Muslims recognise and appreciate its creator.

Fitra and khalifah explain different aspects of environmental responsibility. Fitra concerns the disposition towards recognising what is right; khalifah concerns the responsibility humans have been entrusted with. Together, they support the view that environmental care is part of a properly lived human life, not merely an optional interest.

Humanists do not accept these ideas as duties given by Allah. However, they can agree with the practical conclusion that humans should live responsibly within the natural world. Agreement about an action does not require agreement about its religious explanation.

Sustainability and responsibility beyond borders

Sustainability means meeting present needs without undermining future generations’ ability to meet theirs. A choice can benefit people now but be unsustainable if it exhausts resources or leaves serious environmental damage behind. Muslim stewardship supports sustainability because caretakers should preserve what has been entrusted to them, rather than leave it damaged for those who follow.

Global citizenship extends responsibility beyond one’s own country. Climate change and damage to biodiversity are shared problems, and actions in one place can affect people elsewhere. Thinking as a global citizen means considering these wider consequences rather than asking only what benefits one’s own community.

This connects personal choices with collective action. Saving energy can reduce a household’s environmental impact, but wider change also involves communities, businesses and governments. Both religious and non-religious people can cooperate on these shared responsibilities.

Humanist Climate Action: responsibility without belief in God

Humanists use reason and scientific evidence to understand environmental problems. They recognise that human and animal wellbeing depends on a healthy natural world. This provides a moral reason to protect ecosystems and act on climate change without appealing to a divine command.

Humanist Climate Action is a volunteer-led network of Humanists UK members and supporters. It promotes low-carbon, ethical and sustainable living, encourages evidence-based discussion, and campaigns for environmentally friendly policies. Its work combines individual and collective responsibility: it encourages greener lifestyles, offers group-discussion resources, invites people to plant trees, and supports writing to MPs to call for climate action. It also cooperates with other organisations through membership of The Climate Coalition.

Richard Norman, a founder-member of Humanist Climate Action, argues that humans cannot look to a higher power to solve their problems. They must take responsibility themselves. For Humanists who believe this is their only life, protecting the planet and leaving a positive legacy for future generations can give life meaning and purpose.

Comparing and evaluating the reasons for action

An Islamic argument is that humans should protect the world because it belongs to Allah and they are accountable as stewards. Its strength is that environmental care becomes a serious religious duty, reinforced by faith and judgement. However, someone who does not believe in Allah may not accept that foundation. Religious commitment also needs to be translated into effective action; belief alone does not prevent environmental harm.

A Humanist argument is that evidence of harm, concern for wellbeing and responsibility to future generations are sufficient reasons to act. Its strength is that these reasons can be discussed across religious differences, and scientific evidence can help identify effective responses. However, knowing the evidence does not guarantee that people will change their behaviour when doing so is inconvenient or costly.

A justified conclusion could be that religious belief is not necessary for environmental responsibility, as Humanist Climate Action demonstrates. Nevertheless, Islamic beliefs about fitra and khalifah can provide powerful reasons for Muslims to act. The views differ over the ultimate source of duty, but both can support , global cooperation and practical care for the world.