Of Climate Change.....

Climate Change; "Greatest Challenge of our Time*"_ (Copenhagen Accord, March,2010)

We still have to think of more solutions and new ways of dealing with this problem......

See, the climate change we are dealing with now, isn’t the same as was at the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or at the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Populations have grown, costs of living gone up, and more challenges emerged especially in a lot of developing countries. It is 2015 and we cannot just sit in round tables and talk of climate change in isolation.

 It is climate change and….. climate change and “I am hungry”, climate change and “I do not understand these strange new pests and insects on my farm”, climate change and “I have to do whatever it takes to take myself to the hospital, climate change and “can I afford to send my child to school” And steadily developing countries are rising to become huge contributors to a lot of environmental problems.

And one cannot solely put the blame on people because; a lot of the actions leading to environmental damage are done unconsciously. One needs to survive_ fetch firewood for cooking, cut down some trees to get some more land to grow food/put up shelters to live in etc.….

And this should tell our governments, policy makers and all engaged in environmental protection and the fight against climate change that we still need to go back to the drawing board. Develop projects that address people’s basic needs; improve livelihoods, bring alternative sources of energy to the communities, implement environmental laws, improve our judicial systems, reduce the gaps between rich and poor etc.And this is so especially in developing countries.

Simply put, in 2015, climate change is intertwined with so many other issues affecting the society_ Be it food security, judicial system, security, on and on…. 

What actions and structures are our governments setting in place to shelter people from the effects of climate change? Whether improving early warning systems, modernizing and equipping our meteorological department, reducing costs of living, easing access to healthcare ? 

Or are our governments too focused on empty politics, and corruption? , for heaven’s sake its 2015 anyone who is corrupt or incites tribal clashes, or signs deals that are wrong should go to some deserted island. Because clearly, they seem not understand or are too self-focused to see the challenges in our societies. 

And these same challenges, will eventually lead to the destruction of our environment, worsening the already being felt effects of climate change. 

-          Mary Appophia