UN World Meteorological Organisation’s annual report titled, ‘State of the Climate in Asia’ has revealed that the entire continent of Asia has been under the grip of the scorching sun with 2020 being the hottest year on record. The report further states that every part of the region has been affected as thousands of people have lost their lives, millions have been displaced, billions of dollars have been lost, and infrastructure and ecosystems have been destroyed. It is clear that the ecological crisis has evolved into a humanitarian one. This was expected from the very beginning.
The report has come days before the UN Climate Change Conference being held in Glasgow and many have already shown their dissatisfaction. Greta Thunberg made her infamous “blah, blah, blah” speech to the Youth4Climate summit in Milan, in which she lambasted world leaders over their inability to take drastic and serious action. She attacked the weak and useless initiatives that have taken 30 years for world leaders to come up with: “Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah,” she said. In order to dissuade protesters that have resumed their campaign before the event, the police have urged that those who block major roads during the conference will be moved by force and may face arrest. Furthermore, public experts have warned that Covid-19 could spread rapidly by activists as around 100,000 people may take part in protests during the conference. It is true that powerful governments and international organisations are all hat and no cattle. They haven’t been able to hold multinational corporations accountable because economies around the world are heavily dependent on them.
Unfortunately, there is no longer time to invest in long-term projects. The change must happen now, instantly. Environmentalists around the world have said it time and time again: global carbon emissions must decrease significantly in order to try and reverse the effects of global warming. If a young child can understand that, why can’t world leaders.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2021.
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