The Debate on Climate Change.
Sir Nick Stern’s report ( UK today),on climate change and the subsequent dangers of global warning is a wake-up call to all of us to act before it is too late. I agree entirely and echo the Prime Minister in his call for a global response. Before I comment further, let me quote from the news release by Friends of the Earth:-
“ Yes, we all know it is a global problem (emissions in the UK being only 2%). Nothing will happen to solve it until countries take action at home to cut emissions. Ultimately, individual countries’ actions will need to be orchestrated through a globally agreed legal and economic framework far stronger than what we have under the Kyoto Accord.â€
My understanding of Global is the World and this World consists of Developed and developing countries (and the word developing is often used very loosely because it includes countries that are actually “non-developingâ€. Examples are Bangladesh, parts of India and Pakistan, some regions in China, Nepal, Myanmar, some outposts of the former USSR (Siberia), at least 40 countries (!) in Africa, at least 4 countries in South America, countries in Central America (Guatemala, Panama, Nicuragua, Honduras), and some Caribbean nations like Cuba and Jamaica. Add Pacific nations like Indonesia and the Phillipines because their economies are often disrupted by natural disasters, and you have “non-developing†countries coming close to tipping the scales against the developed nations.
Now, let’s consider daily life in many of these countries that are “developing†but are actually “non- developing†:
• The traffic in Nigeria (especially Lagos), worsens daily. Tell them to drive hybrid cars (they are one city of many).
• Malawi has been stripped of forests due to refugees. Tell them not to cook with wood.
• Tell the oil refineries that are established in many African, Middle Eastern, Russian and South American countries to stop refining and polluting the air.
• Some people in the Phillipines live on $2 a day. Tell them to get more efficient cooking fuels.
• The Sudan, largest country in Africa, The DRC, one of the largest, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Liberia, Ivory Coast and many others couldn’t give a toss about global warming or climate change. Those people are trying to survive!
• Countries from North to South in Africa and South America (as examples), have no building regulations or safety regulations. They are probably irresponsible and very casual –ergo: don’t give a damn about climate change or any other factor that impinges on surviving.
• Tell the 5000 taxi drivers in Cairo (population 20 million) to cut down on emissions, sell their taxis, walk!. Try it.
• Tell the people in the slums of Mexico City to cook responsibly.
I’m sure you know by now what I’m alluding to: It is going to be impossible to educate the World’s poorest nations to change their habits and their lives. They cannot afford to change.
Forgive my pessimism but how do you tackle high emissions of exhaust gas, factory smoke and cooking fires when there are no regulations in place; no wish to deprive people of “simple practicesâ€; no wish to prevent people getting on with the drudgery of life; no wish to shut down a tannery that belches smoke, chokes rivers and is an eyesore. That is their life!
And I’m not finished! How do Sir Nick, Tony Blair and The Friends of the Earth, amongst other protagonists for change, consider how they are going to change this World of ours when they cannot bring peace to the warring; bring food to the starving, and erase corruption from the corrupted nations? Respect for an ideal is easy—how will it be put into practice?
Changing the world is easy on paper. Try it in real terms.