Natural Balance

A universe that is tens of billions of years old and so large that the earth we live on is like a grain of sand in a desert, can be destroyed by very small and very short-lived creatures — that is humans.

So our Creator ordered this human not to disturb the balance of the universe. Furthermore, He also mandates humans to re-establish a balance that has been disturbed, humans can do this with a justice (Qur’an 55:8–9).

Alhamdulillah, some people living in this era realize that we have disturbed the balance of the universe, and are trying to fix it.

In developed industrial countries such as the European Union, the awareness not to disturb the balance of nature is realized by a firm compensation system for polluters, they have to buy a ‘carbon allowance’ whose funds are to finance carbon sequestration projects.

The system, which they call the EU ETS (Emissions Trading System) or better known as Carbon Trading, has now become a mature carbon market, after entering the second decade since its launch in 2005. Even in the last 9 months from January 2021 to yesterday, carbon prices have almost jumped. doubled from around 33 Euro/ton last January to 64 Euro/ton as of yesterday. This indicates how expensive the effort to maintain the balance of nature is.

We do not have to imitate exactly what they did, but we must have a system for maintaining this natural balance that is truly enforced with justice, so that it is at least the same or even more effective than the system they created.

While waiting for our government to make and enforce justice related to the balance of nature, ordinary people like us can also do something.

On average, we in Indonesia emit carbon equivalent emissions of around 2.2 tons per capita per year. If each of us plant 7 trees that can live approximately our age — such as tamanu or nyamplung trees — then God willing, we have offset our emissions with an equivalent carbon absorption.

Because not everyone can plant these 7 trees, it becomes an opportunity for others to get the promise of the Prophet PBUH in the form of a reward that flows until the Day of Judgment, namely by planting as many trees as possible. And now we are facilitating this movement with what we call Green Waqf.

Perhaps this is also the lesson, why when the Day of Judgment has come even those who still hold tree seeds are still ordered to keep planting them. A sign that there will be people who always plant trees, maintain the balance of nature, until the Day of Resurrection that suddenly occurs in their hands still holding tree seeds, and they will continue to plant them.