Climate change has been the focal point of major big political organization conferences such as the united nations and infinite summits. It will obviously take center stage at the United Nations General Assembly this week following extreme weather patterns currently battering different parts of the world simultaneously. Monsoon floods in Pakistan, drought in the Horn of Africa, hurricanes in the Caribbean and Japan as well as wildfires all over Europe are just a few examples of the dreaded wrath of climate. However, much has been said consistently in various high level meetings but little has actually been achieved. It’s high time we sit down and be honest with ourselves and know where we are getting it wrong.
Adam Smith,a great economist and author of The Wealth of Nations says in his book that greed is good and that by becoming richer one benefits everyone while supporting capitalism and free markets. This kind of greed Adam talked about has been a double edged sword for the human race. In the rat race to outdo everyone else,man has invented some harmful commodities such as plastics which actually have a severe impact on the environment. This is just one example of fly in the ointment for free markets. Most governments banned the use of plastics while factories are still operational. How will it ever end? With plastic around and fossil fuels being used on a large scale more harm is being done even as the alarm bells ring. The need to save our planet is there but the urge to profit overpowers it. The fight to save our planet is just a mirage since our commitment to it is below par. People always want to be seen as doing something while in the real sense doing absolutely nothing. Leaders go to summits discuss for weeks but come up with no viable solutions while the problem persists and worsens.
When I say that the spirit is willing but the body is weak I mean it. The Kenyan government banned the use of plastics but in the markets they are in abundance. Every shopping center has them in large quantities,in fact the banning was on paper. The united nations and the European union stopped African countries from exploiting their fossil fuels in a step towards curbing the fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere while buying the same from Russia. When Russia at last cut off most of it’s supply of gas and oil to the European countries, their leaders came tumbling over each other in a race to acquire African resources for their own countries. What sort of hypocrisy is that. It feels like all the measures were put in place for African nations to stop them from using the abundant resources for their development. This simply shows that the self appointed”moral” leaders of the west are much more concerned about their profits and development than the real issues of climate change. African countries have been pressured time and again to cut their own emissions and invest more in climate change measures while it is interesting to note that African emissions only amount to 1.5% of the total global emissions. John Kerry was the last leader in a long line of leaders to remind Africans to cut down their emissions. The hypocrisy is top notch. Trying to do something which you actually don’t believe in in virtually impossible.
World leaders should have less and less conferences and summits and more and more real interventions. Too much talk and no actions while climate tragedies continue to wreak havoc. It’s time to do what you say lest climate change will be like the long well-intentioned but badly implemented vision for a utopian Africa.
Anonymous 