CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT: INSIGHTS FROM SCIENCE AND ISLAMIC ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJEMP.935012Keywords:
Amanah, Climate Change Adaptation, Infrastructure Development, Islamic Environmental Ethics, Khalifah, MizanAbstract
Climate change has emerged as a growing challenge to transportation, water and energy supplies, and urban infrastructure. Such systems are vulnerable to increased temperatures, heavy rain, floods, droughts, and other risks and hazards that may impair their safety, performance, and service life. This is a narrative review of the research concerning climate-resilient infrastructure and Islamic environmental ethics. The three discussed concerns include the risk of infrastructure, adaptive mechanisms, and three Islamic ideals: Khalifah (stewardship), Mizan (balance), and Amanah (trust and responsibility). The scientific approaches are divided into four areas: resilient design and risk-based planning, sustainable materials and efficient resource use, green and nature solutions, and monitoring, modeling, and intelligent technologies. Islamic ethics introduces ethics to these technical approaches. Khalifah believes in planning and development of the community. Mizan stresses the necessity to work on the balance between development and environmental limitations. Responsible decisions must be made in the life cycle of infrastructure for Amanah. Malaysian examples, such as the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) and the Green Building Index, show how these ideas can be applied. The review identifies four main benefits of this integration: responsible use of resources, long-term resilience, fair distribution of benefits and risks, and responsibility to future generations. Future studies should develop and test an Islamic ethical assessment framework for climate-resilient infrastructure.
Downloads
References
Adom, P. K. (2024). The socioeconomic impact of climate change in developing countries over the next decades: A literature survey. Heliyon, 10(15), Article e35134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35134
Ali, M., & Agushi, M. (2024). Eco-Islam: Integrating Islamic ethics into environmental policy for sustainable living. International Journal of Religion, 5(9), 949–957. https://doi.org/10.61707/gq0we205
Al-Jayyousi, O., Hasan, W. N. W., Mohamed Saniff, S., Sever, S. D., & Tok, E. (2023). A critical discourse analysis on climate change in a globalized world: The nexus of Islam and sustainable development. Sustainability, 15(19), Article 14515. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914515
Belčáková, I., Świader, M., & Bartyna-Zielińska, M. (2019). The green infrastructure in cities as a tool for climate change adaptation and mitigation: Slovakian and Polish experiences. Atmosphere, 10(9), Article 552. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10090552
Carleton, T. A., & Hsiang, S. M. (2016). Social and economic impacts of climate. Science, 353(6304), Article aad9837. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad9837
Chang, Y.-T., Lee, Y.-C., & Huang, S.-L. (2017). Integrated spatial ecosystem model for simulating land use change and assessing vulnerability to flooding. Ecological Modelling, 362, 87–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.08.013
Chen, Y., Liu, A., & Cheng, X. (2020). Quantifying economic impacts of climate change under nine future emission scenarios within CMIP6. Science of the Total Environment, 703, Article 134950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134950
Chirisa, I., Nyevera, T., & Moyo, T. (2023). Challenges surrounding climate resilience on transportation infrastructures. In C. N. Madu, C.-H. Kuei, & P. E. Madu (Eds.), Adapting the built environment for climate change: Design principles for climate emergencies (pp. 55–74). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95336-8.00005-6
de Abreu, V. H. S. (2026). Technological innovations and climate adaptation strategies for road management. In S. S. Muthu (Ed.), Reduction of industrial carbon footprint (pp. 139–152). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-10913-2_7
Forzieri, G., Bianchi, A., Silva, F. B. E., Marin Herrera, M. A., Leblois, A., Lavalle, C., Aerts, J. C. J. H., & Feyen, L. (2018). Escalating impacts of climate extremes on critical infrastructures in Europe. Global Environmental Change, 48, 97–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.11.007
Green Building Index. (n.d.). What is the Green Building Index? https://www.greenbuildingindex.org/
Gulzar, A., Islam, T., Khan, M. A., & Haq, S. M. (2021). Environmental ethics towards sustainable development in Islamic perspective. Ethnobotany Research and Applications, 22, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.32859/ERA.22.39.1-10
Haider, S. D. E. N. (2025). An analytical study of Islamic faith and ethics in the context of environmental sustainability. Riphah Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 3(1).
He, C., Zhou, L., Ma, W., & Wang, Y. (2019). Spatial assessment of urban climate change vulnerability during different urbanization phases. Sustainability, 11(8), Article 2406. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082406
Hemed, A., Ouadif, L., Bahi, L., & Lahmili, A. (2020). Impact of climate change on pavements. E3S Web of Conferences, 150, Article 01008. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202015001008
Hirsch, A. H., & Kunstman, B. E. (2014). Climate change vulnerabilities and risk-based management approaches used on transportation assets. In ICSI 2014: Creating infrastructure for a sustainable world (pp. 151–162). American Society of Civil Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784478745.016
Hosseini, F., Nasimifar, M., Sivaneswaran, N., & Golalipour, A. (2024). Mutual impacts of changing climate and flexible pavement performance considering resilience and sustainable aspects. Journal of Cleaner Production, 460, Article 142594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.142594
Hussein, J. M., Abdullah, S. K., Zuhair, M., Dahash, Z. M., & Maksutalievna, A. M. (2024). Islamic legal perspectives on climate change and global policy frameworks. Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam, 9(2), 723–742. https://doi.org/10.29240/jhi.v9i2.11185
Islamy, M. R. F., Suprima, Hermawan, W., Budiyanti, N., Parhan, M., & Logayah, D. S. (2025). The role of Islamic law in addressing global warming: Perspectives from Indonesia and global contexts. Mazahib: Jurnal Pemikiran Hukum Islam, 24(2), 358–386. https://doi.org/10.21093/mj.v24i2.11314
Loucks, D. P. (2021). Impacts of climate change on economies, ecosystems, energy, environments, and human equity: A systems perspective. In T. M. Letcher (Ed.), The impacts of climate change: A comprehensive study of physical, biophysical, social, and political issues (pp. 19–50). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822373-4.00016-1
Mahmood, S., Sun, H., Iqbal, A., Alhussan, A. A., & El-Kenawy, E. S. M. (2024). Green finance, sustainable infrastructure, and green technology innovation: Pathways to achieving sustainable development goals in the Belt and Road Initiative. Environmental Research Communications, 6(10), Article 105009. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad898f
Méjean, A., Collins-Sowah, P., Guivarch, C., Piontek, F., Soergel, B., & Taconet, N. (2024). Climate change impacts increase economic inequality: Evidence from a systematic literature review. Environmental Research Letters, 19(4), Article 043003. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad376e
Pal, I., Ganni, S. V. S. A. B., Perwaiz, A., Ahmed, I., Baskota, A., & Kumar, J. (2025). Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation for resilient infrastructure and built environment: Lessons from Asia Pacific. In I. Pal, R. Shaw, T. Chan, & T. Djalante (Eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development—Volume 2 (pp. 1–14). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-2030-2_1
Palin, E. J., Stipanovic Oslakovic, I., Gavin, K., & Quinn, A. (2021). Implications of climate change for railway infrastructure. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 12(5), Article e728. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.728
Peker, E. (2025). Climate change adaptation: Designing resilient cities in an age of crisis. Community and Physician, 40(3).
Permana, A. S., & Petchsasithon, A. (2020). Linking engineering approach and local wisdom in water-sensitive urban design as an adaptation strategy to climate change. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 447(1), Article 012004. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/447/1/012004
Rathnayaka, B., Robert, D., Siriwardana, C., Adikariwattage, V. V., Pasindu, H. R., Setunge, S., & Amaratunga, D. (2023). Identifying and prioritizing climate change adaptation measures in the context of electricity, transportation and water infrastructure: A case study. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 99, Article 104093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.104093
Rawat, A., Kumar, D., & Khati, B. S. (2024). A review on climate change impacts, models, and its consequences on different sectors: A systematic approach. Journal of Water and Climate Change, 15(1), 104–132. https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2023.536
Sadali. (2023). Harnessing Islamic teachings for climate justice: Pathways for faith-based environmental action. Sinergi International Journal of Islamic Studies, 1(3). https://doi.org/10.61194/ijis.v1i3.597
Seidu, S., Chan, D. W. M., Edwards, D. J., & Owusu-Manu, D.-G. (2025). A systematic review of green infrastructure and ecosystem-based technologies for climate resilience: Development trends, research outlook and future projections. Environmental Research Letters, 20(8), Article 083002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade730
SMART. (n.d.). What is SMART? Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel. https://smarttunnel.com.my/smart/what-is-smart/
Tol, R. S. J. (2009). The economic effects of climate change. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(2), 29–51. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.23.2.29
Tol, R. S. J. (2010). The economic impact of climate change. Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 11(S1), 13–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2516.2010.00326.x
Vlachogiannis, D., Zarikos, I., Sfetsos, A., Rimlinger, J., Jaumouillé, A., Freissinet, C., Santala, V., Tzempelikos, D., & Dubovik, M. (2026). A uniform framework for climate change adaptation of critical infrastructure using nature-based solutions. Infrastructures, 11(2), Article 65. https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures11020065
