Last year, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres mentioned in his speech that the climate time bomb is ticking and urged rich nations to slash carbon dioxide emissions. To reduce CO2 emissions, world leaders gather every year to prevent forthcoming calamities in the world and sort out climatic issues. In the past, many international conferences took place in different countries to address the upcoming challenges of climate change, like the Montreal Protocol (1989), the Rio Declaration (1992), or the Kyoto Protocol (1997). In all the protocols, wealthy nations pledged to reduce the emissions of carbon and greenhouse gases, but they all proved empty promises.
In addition to these commitments, affluent countries set goals at the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) to address the climate issue. However, the fundamental question is: how are the rich nations committed and sincere to healing the wounds that humans have inflicted on nature? China, the greatest carbon emitter in the world, is at the forefront of making effective policies for climate change. Chinese Premier Xi Jing Ping announced in 2021 that China would no longer support coal-based energy projects. However, it funds coal-fire projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan.
Conversely, the United States is anxious about the planet’s increasing temperature. In spite of their concern about climate change, the United States is the world’s second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, after China. In 2022, the US released 5.1 billion metric tons of carbon. To maintain its economic standing in the world, the US creates regulations for other countries to cut carbon emissions in order to combat climate change, but it does not want to become entangled in such policies. In such an alarming situation, could we save our planet for the coming generations?
As Tenneson once said, ‘It’s not too late to seek a newer world.’ Sadly, our future generation is going to explore a new world in the form of destruction. In his book The Good Ancestor: A Radical Perscription for Long-Term Thinking, Roman Krznaric answers a question from Jonas Salk: Are we being good ancestors? In response, Salk stated that we must deliberate on long-term planning that takes centuries and millennia into account if we are to address the global crisis in the form of climate change.
As Tenneson once said, ‘It’s not too late to seek a newer world.’ Sadly, our future generation is going to explore a new world in the form of destruction. In his book The Good Ancestor: A Radical Perscription for Long-Term Thinking, Roman Krznaric answers a question from Jonas Salk: Are we being good ancestors? In response, Salk stated that we must deliberate on long-term planning that takes centuries and millennia into account if we are to address the global crisis in the form of climate change.
We still have time. Developed nations should take steps to reduce CO2 emissions, but they won’t do that. Moreover, wealthy nations can make and implement eco-friendly policies. How can we be friendly to our nature? Ken Hiltner, in her book Writing a New Environmental Era: Moving Forward to Nature, explains that we cannot return to nature; rather, we need to move forward to nature. In this journey towards nature, we must bring major changes to our lives with science and technology.
We need to adopt eco-friendly policies and avoid large-scale projects that pose a threat to the environment if we want to move closer to nature. Environment-friendly policies are not a problem to make, but their implementation is an issue for us. As mentioned earlier, coal-based energy power plants that are operating in Pakistan under Chinese supervision pose a greater threat to the environment than geothermal power plants. China is aware of the hazardous nature of coal-based power plants, but they have no concern about the climate because these projects serve their interests. China obviously puts national interests ahead of climate change. Not just China, but all wealthy countries, are driving the earth’s temperature to rise.
The developed world formulates policies to address the impending climate crisis, but their primary goal is to bolster their economies through whatever means necessary. Rich nations are now the biggest CO2 emitters in the world. The hypocritical behaviors of the West and other developed nations have posed a grave threat to humankind. In addition to developed nations, developing countries are also major contributors to global warming.
In the fight against nature, let’s examine Pakistan’s role. Every year, millions of people in Pakistan suffer from floods because of melting glaciers. Pakistan laments this, holding other nations solely responsible, but it also allows business magnates to construct housing societies on agricultural land, turning thousands of hectares of cultivated land into concrete jungles in every Pakistani city.
To put it briefly, rich countries have not taken any significant steps to cut carbon emissions in order to prevent the threat of global warming. Every year, there are international summits on climate change, but these gatherings are mainly ceremonial. Glaciers are melting, and in the near future, many species will become extinct. We pay no attention to these warning signs from nature. Humans have waged a battle against nature, they will inevitably lose it.
The writer is a student of history at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
Climate Change and Our Hypocrisy
Last year, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres mentioned in his speech that the climate time bomb is ticking and urged rich nations to slash carbon dioxide emissions. To reduce CO2 emissions, world leaders gather every year to prevent forthcoming calamities in the world and sort out climatic issues. In the past, many international conferences took place in different countries to address the upcoming challenges of climate change, like the Montreal Protocol (1989), the Rio Declaration (1992), or the Kyoto Protocol (1997). In all the protocols, wealthy nations pledged to reduce the emissions of carbon and greenhouse gases, but they all proved empty promises.
In addition to these commitments, affluent countries set goals at the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) to address the climate issue. However, the fundamental question is: how are the rich nations committed and sincere to healing the wounds that humans have inflicted on nature? China, the greatest carbon emitter in the world, is at the forefront of making effective policies for climate change. Chinese Premier Xi Jing Ping announced in 2021 that China would no longer support coal-based energy projects. However, it funds coal-fire projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan.
Conversely, the United States is anxious about the planet’s increasing temperature. In spite of their concern about climate change, the United States is the world’s second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, after China. In 2022, the US released 5.1 billion metric tons of carbon. To maintain its economic standing in the world, the US creates regulations for other countries to cut carbon emissions in order to combat climate change, but it does not want to become entangled in such policies. In such an alarming situation, could we save our planet for the coming generations?
As Tenneson once said, ‘It’s not too late to seek a newer world.’ Sadly, our future generation is going to explore a new world in the form of destruction. In his book The Good Ancestor: A Radical Perscription for Long-Term Thinking, Roman Krznaric answers a question from Jonas Salk: Are we being good ancestors? In response, Salk stated that we must deliberate on long-term planning that takes centuries and millennia into account if we are to address the global crisis in the form of climate change.
As Tenneson once said, ‘It’s not too late to seek a newer world.’ Sadly, our future generation is going to explore a new world in the form of destruction. In his book The Good Ancestor: A Radical Perscription for Long-Term Thinking, Roman Krznaric answers a question from Jonas Salk: Are we being good ancestors? In response, Salk stated that we must deliberate on long-term planning that takes centuries and millennia into account if we are to address the global crisis in the form of climate change.
We still have time. Developed nations should take steps to reduce CO2 emissions, but they won’t do that. Moreover, wealthy nations can make and implement eco-friendly policies. How can we be friendly to our nature? Ken Hiltner, in her book Writing a New Environmental Era: Moving Forward to Nature, explains that we cannot return to nature; rather, we need to move forward to nature. In this journey towards nature, we must bring major changes to our lives with science and technology.
We need to adopt eco-friendly policies and avoid large-scale projects that pose a threat to the environment if we want to move closer to nature. Environment-friendly policies are not a problem to make, but their implementation is an issue for us. As mentioned earlier, coal-based energy power plants that are operating in Pakistan under Chinese supervision pose a greater threat to the environment than geothermal power plants. China is aware of the hazardous nature of coal-based power plants, but they have no concern about the climate because these projects serve their interests. China obviously puts national interests ahead of climate change. Not just China, but all wealthy countries, are driving the earth’s temperature to rise.
The developed world formulates policies to address the impending climate crisis, but their primary goal is to bolster their economies through whatever means necessary. Rich nations are now the biggest CO2 emitters in the world. The hypocritical behaviors of the West and other developed nations have posed a grave threat to humankind. In addition to developed nations, developing countries are also major contributors to global warming.
In the fight against nature, let’s examine Pakistan’s role. Every year, millions of people in Pakistan suffer from floods because of melting glaciers. Pakistan laments this, holding other nations solely responsible, but it also allows business magnates to construct housing societies on agricultural land, turning thousands of hectares of cultivated land into concrete jungles in every Pakistani city.
To put it briefly, rich countries have not taken any significant steps to cut carbon emissions in order to prevent the threat of global warming. Every year, there are international summits on climate change, but these gatherings are mainly ceremonial. Glaciers are melting, and in the near future, many species will become extinct. We pay no attention to these warning signs from nature. Humans have waged a battle against nature, they will inevitably lose it.
The writer is a student of history at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
Trending Posts