A few hours from now, the world will witness the next UN Climate Negotiations take place in Poznan, Poland. A few hours ago – Mumbai, the financial capital of India was struck by a terrorist attack – one the most coordinated acts of terror the world has seen till date.
Though on the outset, the two events have nothing in common (save for the fact that the Mumbai attacks led to the cancellation of the Live Earth event) and that climate change and terrorism are two diffrent challenges faced by our civilization today, the cause and consequences of the two are in some way pretty much the same. And in order to ensure a peaceful world, it is important that both these challenges are tackled – the earlier the better.
Climate Change in India is also the story of inequitable distribution of resources and uneven consumption patterns. While some (can) consume and (thus) pollute more, others have no choice but to pollute. Poverty was once declared and is still believed to be the biggest polluter. Climate Change for India is also the story of costlier technology transfer and non-availability of the right technology at the right place and time.
The kind of coordinated terrorism we are witnessing in the country no doubt comes from outside, but is able to find base in India because the development in the country has been uneven. Not all sections of the society have benefitted or are even aware that India is now on the expressway to development. The development is skewed also because it has, for reasons more than one, not been able to break ice with some religious groups. The challenge is huge for India because India is both the largest democracy of the world and one of the biggest secular nation.
While being trained by Al Gore, to be able to deliver The Climate Project presentation effectively, I could not agree with Al when he said that climate change like terrorism is the biggest threat faced by mankind today. The challenges for both are same, since to fight terrorism we need to come together and work across departments, towns, cities and countries, and so is the case with fighting climate change. How much are we able to fight this menace and how quickly we can begin to win over them, will determine the time period this civilizations has on this Planet. Climatic Peace is what we should thus all pray for until then.
A heartfelt commentary is expressed in this article. There are indeed multiple facets of endeavour involved in bringing social balance to our world. As we and our leaders work to move forward in bringing peace and prosperity to our cumulative citizenry, we must bear in mind that changes to our energy supply systems will seriously effect the economies of the areas which currently support their economies solely on fossil fuel production.
It is not a coincidence that these are some of the areas most torn by strife and social inequality. Careful inclusion of fossil fuel economies in plans to move toward a more diversified balance of energy sources will be necessary to work past political posturing, intercontinental tensions and certainly the resolution of the global terrorism problem. We must remember to take heart in the many national and international organizations involved in actively working on these problems.
We must also empower ouselves by doing everything we can in our daily lives to think ecologically as we move through our daily life choices. Some of the ways we can become more empowered are to: educate ourselves about the conditions in our world (Eco Worldly is increasingly becoming an excellent source of such information); contact our local and national leaders on initiatives we care about; get involved with or instigate school and community projects with our children; financially support organizations we believe are working toward humanitarian and ecological improvements; engage in the global conversation by talking with family, friends, neighbours and through such networks as provided by this and other publications we use to inform and influence our fellow human beings.
Above all, do not be discouraged. We can do this. Cheers.
I think India government (especially, Sonia govt.) does not have the political or international power to deal with this scenario. India is a soft nation and so can be easily pushed around. Look at the terror attacks one after the another. The latest example is The latest example is Mumbai…:(