Il diritto dell’ambiente nella prospettiva islamica del “Green Deen”: il costituzionalismo ambientale del Marocco e della Tunisia

Environmental law in the Islamic perspective of the "Green Deen": the environmental constitutionalism of Morocco and Tunisia

Abstract

The relationship between religion and the environment is alive and current in all religions of the world and today environmental protection is a collective projection of religious freedom. In a comparative perspective, religions, especially in recent times, have experienced - through their activity in the public sphere - the "ecological vocation" proper to cults, fueling a process of "greening of religions" which has taken on a global dimension and a revolutionary intensity with Pope Francis' Encyclical Laudato Si. An important contribution to environmental protection can also be found in the experience of Islam understood as the "Green Deen". In the belief that the Earth is a mosque, the Islamic Environmental Law is built around some key principles including the need to live in balance with nature (mizan); this juridical experience often seeks in religion the foundations for environmental protection, sustainable development and for the fight against climate change. In this framework this work intended to analyze two constitutional experiences of North Africa in which environmental law is also influenced by the cultural formant and by the Muslim religion, namely Morocco and Tunisia. The Moroccan constitution of 2011 and the Tunisian one of 2014 (reformed in 2022) ensure integral environmental protection and sustainable development. The Tunisian Constitution also states the need to contribute to the conservation of the climate and the safeguarding of a healthy environment to ensure the sustainability of natural resources and the pursuit of a secure existence for the benefit of future generations. The comparative analysis of the two constitutional experiences intends to research the new frontiers of contemporary environmental constitutionalism and verify the contribution of the Islamic perspective to the protection of the global environment.