The book surveys Islamic finance and sustainability theories, setting the stage to detail the actual work of businesses, banks, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multilateral agencies addressing water, food and energy insecurity. It examines case studies, which cover diverse aspects of sustainability, mostly, in the context of fragile economic and ecological situations, and discusses practical cases from an Islamic perspective, in which local and regional problems are addressed. An important feature of the book is the description of how Islamic social finance builds pathways to scale for the mobilization of funds as well as the expansion of sustainable ventures. Further, the unique issues of carbon markets are explored from the perspective of Shariah compliance as well as managing adverse events. The cases present replicable, scalable solutions. These unique stories align theory to reality and sometimes, they highlight the shortfalls in the theory.
The cases allow researchers, academics and policy makers an opportunity to examine the effectiveness of theories and policies opposite real-life experiences and also give business and NGO leaders clear examples to follow.
Abdulkader Thomas is an Adjunct Professor of Finance at IE Business School and a doctoral candidate at the School of Law, SOAS University of London.