Unfortunately, some anti-so­cial human activities today often breach these Islamic principles :

• Illegal mining (Galamsey) leads to water pollution and destroys fertile lands.

• Improper sand mining causes land degradation and deforesta­tion.

• Unauthorised tree felling endangers ecosystems and biodi­versity.

• Encroachment on wetlands and water ways leads to urban flooding and ecological imbalance.

These destructive practices vio­late the ethical duty of humans as stewards of the earth and

contradict both Islamic law and state regulations.

Key International

Environmental Protocols

• Ramsar Convention on Wet­lands – Adopted in 1971, Iran

• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – Ad­opted in 1982, Jamaica

• Montreal Protocol on Substanc­es that Deplete the Ozone Layer – Adopted in 1987

• Convention on Biological Diver­sity – Opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit, 1992

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – Adopted in 1992

• Kyoto Protocol – Adopted in 1997, Japan

• Paris Agreement on Climate Change – Adopted in 2015

These protocols aim to promote sustainable environmental practic­es, mitigate climate change, and preserve natural habitats. Islam’s emphasis on balance, responsibili­ty, and justice aligns with the goals of these agreements.

Provisions in the 1992

Constitution of Ghana

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana upholds environmental protection:

• Article 36(9): “The State shall take appropriate measures needed to protect and

safeguard the national environ­ment for posterity.”

• Article 41(k): “It shall be the duty of every citizen to protect and safeguard the

environment.”

These provisions demonstrate that environmental responsibility is a constitutional duty for both state and citizens.

National Legal Statutes on

Environmental Protection

Ghana has enacted various envi­ronmental laws, including:

• Environmental Protection Agen­cy Act, 1994 (Act 490).

This law established the Environ­mental Protection Agency (EPA) as the main state

institution responsible for pro­tecting and improving Ghana’s environment.

The EPA monitors pollution, regulates industrial activities, issues envi­ronmental permits, and

ensures that development proj­ects undergo Environmental Im­pact Assessments (EIA)

before approval.

Purpose: To control pollution and ensure sustainable environmental practices in industries, agriculture, and urban development.

 When someone accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, “he is a new cre­ation; the old has gone, the new has come!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17. That is why Apostle Paul advises us in Romans 12:2 (our key text) “do not conform any longer to the pat­tern of this world.” But it doesn’t end there.

A MIND TRANSFORMED

Nature abhors vacuums so when something is taken away from a space and that space is not quick­ly refilled, other things will start creeping in to fill up the space. The Bible gives an illustration of what happens when a vacuum is created in the life of a believer: “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, `I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked genera­tion.”- Matthew 12:43-45.

A believer’s Christian experience is supposed to move from the ini­tial phase of justification by faith in Christ, to daily sanctification for holy living, to glorification at Je­sus’ second coming, and to even­tual restoration to the pre-fall harmony between God and man. Knowing that the heart of a be­liever cannot be left empty after clearing it of the worldly things, Paul gives the prescription for dai­ly sanctification with which to fill the vacuum: “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

WHAT KIND OF

TRANSFORMATION?

Transformation is defined as “a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance or a metamorphosis during the life cycle of an animal.” We find these kinds of transformation happening all the time around us. Examples include a baby that we see twenty years later as an adult, a cancer survivor who has regained lost weight, a new mother we saw last when she was eight months pregnant.

I have seen many actors and actresses in real life whose faces do not look as flawless at close range as they do on TV. I now know that the credit for their on-screen transformation often belongs to makeup. Similarly, a smelly room can be transformed with air freshener, people with the right clothing, and a gloomy room with the right colours and objects.

No doubt all of these examples of transformation look good, but they are all external and non-last­ing forms of transformation. They are definitely not the kind of transformation Paul has in mind as capable of filling the vacuum left by non-conformity with the world’s pattern. He says, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The right kind of transformation that he’s talking about here is not the one that comes from make-up slathered on, or having a partic­ular dress on, or the right colors thrown here and there. It is the kind that comes “by the renewing of the mind.” What then is the state of the human mind that it needs to be thus renewed?

• By Rev. Dr Joyce Aryee, the author