Zakat and Climate Justice: An Islamic Response to Environmental Crisis

Zakat is remarkably well-suited to address climate-related poverty. The eligibility categories align perfectly with climate impacts. Consider the category of the poor and needy. Climate change creates new poverty every day. Farmers lose crops to drought. Fishermen lose catches to warming oceans. Families lose homes to floods. All become eligible for Zakat. Climate Zakat would direct funds specifically to these climate-induced poor. Not because they are unlucky. Because the economic system that made others wealthy created the conditions that impoverished them. The category of those in debt applies to climate migration. Families forced to relocate often go into debt. They borrow for transport. They borrow to rebuild homes. They borrow to survive while seeking new work. These climate debts are Zakat-eligible. Paying them allows families to restart their lives without crushing financial burdens. The category of travelers in need covers climate refugees perfectly. People displaced by rising seas, advancing deserts, or permanent droughts are travelers in Islamic legal terms. They left their homes involuntarily. They need resources to reach safety and establish new lives. Zakat can fund their journeys and resettlement. Even the category of those working for Zakat can apply. Organizations that distribute climate Zakat, verify environmental impacts, and track outcomes qualify for operational funding from Zakat itself. This creates sustainable infrastructure for climate justice work funded by the very obligation that demands such work.

Climate Zakat is not a future concept. It is happening now. Understanding current applications shows what is possible and what works. Flood relief in Pakistan represents a clear case. The 2022 floods displaced 33 million people. Entire harvests were destroyed. Millions lost homes. Many organizations directed Zakat specifically to flood victims. This was entirely legitimate. These families met multiple Zakat eligibility criteria. They were newly poor. They were in debt. They were travelers displaced from home. Zakat provided emergency relief while the government and international aid mobilized. Drought adaptation in East Africa offers another model. Recurring droughts in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia have created chronic food insecurity. Zakat-funded programs are teaching farmers drought-resistant agricultural techniques. Funding water conservation infrastructure. Supporting transition to less water-intensive livelihoods. This is not just relief. It is adaptation. Helping communities survive in a climate that has permanently changed. Climate migration support in Bangladesh shows long-term thinking. As sea levels rise, millions will eventually need to relocate from coastal areas. Some organizations are using Zakat to fund skills training for young people in vulnerable regions. Teaching trades that allow internal migration to cities. Funding microenterprises that create mobile livelihoods. This prepares communities for inevitable displacement before crisis hits. Renewable energy for poor communities in Indonesia and Malaysia demonstrates prevention. Zakat-funded solar panels for remote villages reduce dependence on diesel generators. This lowers emissions, reduces costs, and provides reliable power. Poor communities get clean energy. The climate gets lower emissions. This is Zakat creating both justice and sustainability.

Climate adaptation for the global poor requires hundreds of billions of dollars. Current funding is inadequate. Zakat could fill this gap. The UN estimates that developing countries need 300 billion dollars annually for climate adaptation. Current pledges from wealthy nations total about 80 billion dollars. Even these pledges are rarely fulfilled. The funding gap is massive and growing. Meanwhile, Zakat generates 200 to 400 billion dollars annually. Even if just 25% was directed to climate-related needs, that would be 50 to 100 billion dollars. More than current adaptation funding. The advantage of Zakat is that it does not depend on political will. Governments promise climate funding then fail to deliver. Elections change priorities. Economic downturns reduce budgets. Zakat operates independently of all this. It is an obligation Muslims fulfill regardless of government policy. This creates reliable, predictable funding that climate adaptation desperately needs. Directing Zakat to climate impacts also creates accountability. When wealthy Muslims pay Zakat to climate-affected communities, they acknowledge a relationship between their wealth and the harm. This is not accusation. It is recognition. The carbon emissions that enabled prosperous lifestyles created the disasters destroying other lives. Zakat becomes the mechanism for addressing this reality.