Climate is everyone’s responsibility

World leaders from over 150 countries met for the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) to discuss ways to control emissions of greenhouse gases that are damaging the climate of our planet Earth. The data indicative of climate change is shocking. In the recorded data, 14 of the 15 hottest years on record have occurred since 2000, according to the UN World Meteorological Organisation.

Since 1997, when world leaders last gathered in Japan to discuss and control climate change, West Antarctic and Greenland have lost five trillion metric tons of ice sheet, resulting in a rise in sea levels.

In Pakistan, we can see and feel how the climate has been changing for the worst during the past 40 years. We witnessed record heat in Karachi in June, which killed over 1,000 people.

It is true that China, America and India — the three largest carbon emitters of world — must lead the way and do more than all other countries to tackle global warming by taking necessary steps to lower carbon emissions. It is compatible to their economic growth, but at the same time, it is the duty of all countries to set realistic and achievable goals to reduce burning fossil fuels and move to solar power, wind power or any other climate friendly energy source.

Maldives could be underwater by the end of this century if the feared climate change causes ocean levels to rise. Former President of Maldives, human rights and environmental activist Mohammad Nasheed rightly said: “We are all Maldivians now — what happens to us today, happens to you tomorrow!”

The reader is a Pakistani chartered accountant based in Dubai.