Big footprints, little steps — the importance of climate strikes
Opinion | JL Maderazo
It’s a dead meme, but 2020 is perhaps the worst year in living memory. Many people — perhaps including some of you reading this article — lost friends and family to coronavirus, the global menace which defined the year. Even those who were spared lost jobs, livelihoods, social lives, and freedom in an effort to contain the pandemic. For all of you reading this article, I offer my sincere condolences for all that you have lost.
But while COVID-19 took center stage last year, other, older threats remained, out of the spotlight but no less urgent. Although there were those who were optimistic that the widespread lockdowns would result in “nature healing”, the fact is that the ongoing climate disaster went on nearly unhindered by the pandemic. In fact, 2020 was the hottest year on record, sharing this dubious honor with 2016.
This is why climate activism, like most ordinary Filipinos, cannot afford to take a “bakasyon” during the pandemic, in the words of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. The fight to preserve our planet’s future cannot be ignored to focus on the pandemic — both issues are urgent, and immediate action is necessary to stem the tide of both.
The importance of a decisive, globally coordinated solution to the climate crisis is probably not news to you. For years, we have been encouraged to recycle, drive less, walk more, use tote bags, and shut off the lights we aren’t using. But while these individual steps are admirable and important in reducing our individual carbon footprints, the truth is that they will not be enough.
One-hundred companies were responsible for more than 70% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions between 1988 and 2015. These companies hold the power to shift the global economy towards a sustainable future. This would not only be the moral thing to do, but also the wiser choice for their businesses, in the long term. Right now, green technology, such as Tesla’s electric vehicles, wind turbines, and photovoltaic cells, are nearly competitive with fossil fuels in terms of price and performance. But these technologies are in their infancy; they will get much better with time. In contrast, fossil fuels have spent decades being researched by well-funded, determined scientists; we have probably maximized its efficiency. Investing in fossil fuels instead of green technology is a loser’s gamble.
But these large megacorporations have historically dragged their feet and avoided blame instead of accepting responsibility and taking action to fix the climate emergency they caused. For example, PetroChina, the world’s 32nd largest public company in 2020, which was restructured from China National Petroleum Company in 1999, claimed that they were innocent of the environmental damage they caused before rebranding. Fast-food chains have made plastic straws optional as if this somehow compensates for the plastic cutlery, styrofoam containers, and countless other unsustainable items they will have to phase out eventually. But not yet, oh no — that would be terrible for this quarter’s profits!
They don’t care that betting on green energy is the smart option, in the long term. It’s an expensive investment that will take years to bear fruit while spending money funding climate change denialists and lobbying against climate laws will yield profits immediately. Those short-term profits are what earn executives bonuses and promotions, not foresight; short-sightedness is built into the modern corporate structure. These companies will not decide to do the right thing on their own.
Governments have the power to compel these companies to reduce emissions. Legislation taxing carbon emissions has been shown to effectively cut carbon footprints significantly; to offset the negative effects these taxes would have on consumers, the revenue can be invested in free healthcare or given as tax rebates to low to middle-income citizens. They can also require carbon emissions to be included in the labeling of products so that consumers can choose to patronize greener companies. But these, too, will require pressure; the government will be lobbied heavily by these firms.
Ultimately, this leaves us, the people, with the responsibility of bringing the change we desperately need. You might even have joined the countless farmers, small business owners, and private citizens who, realizing this, have committed to a greener tomorrow. But this simply isn’t enough, because we are not the main contributors to the problem. It is the powerful few, the politicians and the big businessmen, who are responsible for much of the emissions, and efforts to end the climate emergency must involve them as well as us.
The ultra-wealthy and powerful will not willingly dismantle the status quo that has given them their money and influence; reasoned debate and raising awareness has done nothing but allow companies and governments to spread misinformation and suppress dissent to preserve the way things are. We need to force them to do what must be done. We need something disruptive, to threaten that status quo. We need a strike.
Climate activism, recently brought to the spotlight by Greta Thunberg and those like her is our best option. But be warned, it is also a controversial one. My own activism has led to friction with my family in the past; this is exactly the point. Whether you boycott school, like Greta and those like her, participate in rallies, or even just share posts supporting climate action, you will enrage some people. This conflict will draw attention to the issue, maybe even change a few minds.
Climate activism brings the environment to the forefront and forces the people in power to notice that we care about the climate emergency. The best case scenario is for governments and companies to invest in the infrastructure and research necessary for a sustainable tomorrow. Worst case, you educate your friends and family — some of whom may be in charge of making decisions in the future. While the former is undoubtedly preferable, the latter is still better than accomplishing nothing at all.
If you’ve managed to read this far, let’s be honest — it probably wasn’t because of my fascinating writing. You do care; so why don’t you act on your better impulses, click on this link and participate in the Online Global Climate Strike happening today? It’s a reason to change your display photo and a little step we can all take to encourage governments and companies to act on the climate emergency — especially the top 100 with the biggest footprints.
