The Biden administration wants to inspire religious leaders in Pakistan to preach about climate change, a federal grant solicitation shows.
State Department officials are seeking out a group that will, in exchange for grant funding, “identify 50 religious leaders” in Pakistan and educate them “about climate change and to create awareness about its impact,” according to a federal grant document. The department is targeting religious leaders because “they have the moral authority to call on people and businesses to consider the environmental impact of their activities, to reduce their carbon footprints and to find ways to cope with the growing impact of climate change.”
While the grant solicitation says the program should seek out members of multiple faiths, it also states that more than 96% of Pakistanis are Muslim and that “religious leaders play influential roles in approving government initiatives.” Islam is the state religion of Pakistan, and the grant document specifically states that the project will target Muslim religious leaders. (RELATED: Hip-Hop Diplomacy: State Department Using Urban Music To Push Racial Justice And Environmentalism Abroad)
State Department officials anticipate that the program will start in October 2024 and will last 12 to 18 months. Somewhere between $70,000 and $100,000 in taxpayer funds will go toward leveraging Pakistani religious leaders to fight climate change.
The State Department’s objective is to have clerics “impart” knowledge about climate change during religious services. In order to prepare Pakistani religious leaders to minister on climate change, the State Department outlines a five-step program it is seeking a non-governmental organization to implement.
First, the organization that ultimately receives the State Department’s support is to identify 50 religious leaders in the Peshawar, Malakand and Hazara regions of northern Pakistan.
After the organization identifies religious leaders, it will conduct a survey to assess the baseline knowledge of these leaders on the topics of climate change and the environment. Based on that survey, the organization will then develop a curriculum, potentially in partnership with the Pakistani government, to educate the clerics on climate issues.
The organization will then use its curriculum to train religious leaders and, following the trainings, conduct a post-project survey gauging how much participants learned over the course of the project.
Climate change is the greatest threat facing our world today. The United States has committed to reducing U.S. emissions by 50-52% over the next 10 years and announced bold policies to implement that commitment. We, however, cannot do this alone. We must act now. pic.twitter.com/kGmDlDGXGU
— Department of State (@StateDept) September 23, 2021
The Biden administration has launched several programs aimed at fighting climate change in South Asia under the Biden administration.
The State Department allocated $50,000 to fund a “climate action podcast” in India with the aim of inspiring “changemakers” in the country to “use innovation and technology to solve the climate crisis,” The Washington Free Beacon reported. The department is also seeking out an NGO that can train Indian journalists to better report on climate change as well as an organization that will boost the capacity of green activist groups in the country, according to grant solicitations.
The State Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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