COP 27: A bid to save the planet

Our world, mother to all species inhabiting the planet is ailing and is slowly but surely killed off by cancer. The cancer of human greed.  

Over the years man’s greed has damaged the earth’s ability to renew herself through the rapacious denuding of forests, which provide watershed protection, prevent soil erosion, and landslides and mitigate climate change.   
Again the plundering of the Earth’s vast resources of coal, oil and gas to maximize private profit has resulted in a build-up of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by carbon dioxide emissions occurring in the atmosphere, thus increasing the “Greenhouse Effect “and global warming.  

Over the last 10,000 years, the world has lost one-third of its forests due to human activity, with half of the damage occurring in the last century. Man’s greed has blinded him to the fact that forests absorb CO2 and other dangerous gases which in turn, replenish the atmosphere with oxygen.   

When forests are cut down, much of that stored carbon is released into the atmosphere again as carbon dioxide (CO2). This is how deforestation and forest degradation contribute to global warming.  

As greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth, they trap the sun’s heat. This leads to global warming and climate change. The world is now warming faster than at any point in recorded history. Warmer temperatures over time are changing weather patterns and disrupting the usual balance of nature. This poses many risks to human beings and all other forms of life on Earth.  

Changes in temperature cause changes in rainfall. This results in more severe and frequent storms. It causes flooding and landslides, destruction of homes and communities, costing billions of pounds. On the other hand, global warming also exacerbates water shortages in already water-stressed regions and is leading to an increased risk of agricultural droughts affecting crops.  

Climate change in fact refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, which produces heat-trapping gases.   

UN findings show the use of coal, oil and gas are by far the largest contributors to global climate change, accounting for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.  

The World Bank report -Climate and Development in South Asia- shows more than half of all South Asians, or 750 million people in the eight countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — are affected by one or more climate-related disasters in the last two decades.  

A classic example was the floods which occurred in Pakistan a few months ago. One-third of that country was underwater. The main cause -increased precipitation (excessive rainfall) and glaciers melting caused by climate change.   

In an interview with broadcaster CNN in September, authorities in Pakistan warned it could take up to six months for the deadly flood waters to recede in hardest-hit areas. The floods claimed the lives of more than 1,400 people and affected an estimated 33 million more. It resulted in the washing away of homes, roads, railways, livestock and crops. Damages are expected to total more than $30 billion.  

It was in the midst of these and similar environmental crises, on November 2- the 27th the annual United Nations (UN) climate talks -COP27 (Conference of the Parties)- began in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The summits are held in an effort to get Governments to agree to take steps to limit global temperature rises on an array of issues critical to tackling climate change.   

Rich countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan and much of Western Europe, account for just 12 per cent of the global population today but are responsible for 50 per cent of all the planet-warming greenhouse gases released from fossil fuels and industry over the past 170 years.   

According to ‘carbonbrief.org’ the US has released more than 509Gt CO2 since 1850 and is responsible for the largest share of historical emissions.   

Unfortunately, while for all to see this Earth is being destroyed by human activity, the biggest polluters show no interest in divesting themselves of the use of energy forms which are resulting in global warming and climate change. While these powers call on the less developed countries to switch to alternate forms of power generation –wind, solar and ocean- they themselves continue to use the old destructive forms of energy generation.   

Today these self-same countries are now encouraging destructive wars in their own heartland, causing even more environmental degradation. It is time the leaders of the US and the West put aside grandiose plans for world domination and join hands with ordinary mortals for our world’s salvation.  

A failure to do so could leave the Earth a dead and barren planet killed by human greed.