The Most Fundamental Economic and Political Changes Needed to Respond to Climate Change Effectively
For several decades, the United Nations, multinational corporations, and countries have been trying to fix the most deadly mistake ever made by humanity; ignoring global warming threats. In 1956, the New York Times published an article on climate change. It highlighted the excessive use of fossil fuels would lead to long-lasting environmental challenges. Despite that just being a scientific prediction for the future we live in today, the prediction was very accurate.
Over the years, the world has seen many efforts to combat the drastic changes in our climate. Still, on an hourly basis, we are continuously facing polar ice caps melting, sea levels rising, and homes on islands vanishing. Our efforts are not reasonable enough.
Above all, the main reason why the Earth’s temperature is rising on rocket speed is because of negligence and ignorance. No amount of policies will make a difference unless and until the whole world accepts that climate change is a reality and not a myth, nor is it a hoax.
After Donald Trump’s presidency, there has been a rise in the number of Americans believing climate change is indeed just another myth. However, at the same time, that help gained international media attention and more countries and people started acknowledging the threats of climate change and actively trying to find ways to solve the human-made problem.
In recent years, the majority of the efforts have focused on the economic aspect. For example, countries are encouraging the public to use hybrid cars or fully electric cars. Dubai can be considered a great example here when they fully subsidised all “Tesla” owners until 2020 for free parking and charging. Some schools have even made the “build a tree” initiative compulsory for their students.
However, this is just a handful of people. Despite their remarkable effort into alleviating the problem, the solutions fall short in the demand of help needed to make a difference with climate change.
Governments need to openly start accepting that global warming is harming our planet at rocket speed. They should be doing something, if not everything, about it. Campaigns, where climate change and global warming is endorsed, should get more sponsorships from different organisations to reach a greater audience. We must have a competent governmental system where environmental care is not the last thing on the agenda but some of the first. The most influential people are those in power. Once people like the President openly start admitting that global warming is a reality, we would be able to make significant progress in saving our planet.
Another vital stakeholder we must acknowledge is the third world countries. A lot of the contribution to the rising temperature is from third world countries. There are three main reasons for this: negligence, illiteracy, and a corrupt governmental system. When people are illiterate, they would not know things like global warming and the threats to it. Since the literacy rate is meagre in third world countries and most educated are just men, this brings a more significant amount of problem, especially in countries where the more substantial portion of the population are females. The way to fix this is simple, provide equal education to people of all races and genders. Compulsory education might take time. However, it is possible. In more conservative states, having classes using electronic gadgets and technology (e.g. Zoom or Khan Academy) is very feasible. An article from The Economist stated that one device’s cost to equip a child with the education they need is just for 30USD.
The rise of education and acknowledgement will decrease the negligence of the people who live in third world countries. We would be able to see a change from the locals. However, factories ran and owned, by people in MDCs still stay at large. There are little to no environmental laws in place for restricting the number of greenhouse gases they produce, or the way they dispose of waste. The negligent parties are the government and MDCs who tend to value a dollar above anything else.
Above all, we need a government that knows what laws to set and when. The on-going debates of whether or not MDCs should pay LDCs for environmental acts still stay at large. The biggest concern is that people do not want to pay for a government who is known to be corrupt and uses taxpayers money for their own luxury. Organisations like the United Nations must keep a close eye on the usage of such funds. Ensuring all the money that is paid by MDCs is gone directly to protecting the environment.
There should be a strict ban on removing rainforests. Moreover, monetary help (e.g. loans) should be provided for countries who cannot afford to preserve rainforests since the reduction of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, can be done by the presence of a large number of trees. Schools should have annual field trips where each student goes and builds a tree. The initiative will not only raise awareness but also care and concern for protecting trees. Plus, it is fun and cheap!
All taxis around the world should be electric vehicles. There should be initiatives to encourage the use and production of hybrid vehicles or fully electric vehicles. Governments should reduce taxes, grant free parking for some time, and other benefits to encourage the use of vehicles that do not run on fossil fuels.
Reduction of fossil fuels is crucial and can successfully be done by using different means of renewable energy at the same time to produce enough for the demand. For places with sunlight all year round, for example, the UAE, solar panels should be compulsory in every building and school. Property developers and the land departments in the government sector should also consider making a “sustainable city” where most of the houses’ electricity and water function is through the solar panels.
For a change in the status quo, the root of the problem has to be dealt with. There is no better way than starting from the people themselves, especially those with money and power.
