Islamic Finance and Sustainable Development : The Water, Food, Energy, and Climate Nexus

The proliferation of energy, agricultural, water and food insecurity can be attributed to a multitude of factors, including advancements in technology that have facilitated the technical and economic utilization of energy and water resources, environmental degradation, climate anomalies, mounting pressure on water resources due to escalating demand, and surging energy requirements. These challenges have been addressed from multiple perspectives, ranging from Islamic social finance to large scale project finance. Large corporations are also involved in tackling the environmental impact of climate change or operating in water stressed regions. This book argues, however, that there is little value to be gained from this activity when sustainability initiatives and frameworks are not being measured.

The book surveys Islamic finance and sustainability theories, setting the stage to detail the actual work of businesses, banks, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multilateral agencies addressing water, food and energy insecurity. It examines case studies, which cover diverse aspects of sustainability, mostly, in the context of fragile economic and ecological situations, and discusses practical cases from an Islamic perspective, in which local and regional problems are addressed. An important feature of the book is the description of how Islamic social finance builds pathways to scale for the mobilization of funds as well as the expansion of sustainable ventures. Further, the unique issues of carbon markets are explored from the perspective of Shariah compliance as well as managing adverse events. The cases present replicable, scalable solutions. These unique stories align theory to reality and sometimes, they highlight the shortfalls in the theory.

The cases allow researchers, academics and policy makers an opportunity to examine the effectiveness of theories and policies opposite real-life experiences and also give business and NGO leaders clear examples to follow.

Abdulkader Thomas is an Adjunct Professor of Finance at IE Business School and a doctoral candidate at the School of Law, SOAS University of London.