Decade of inaction andTrump risks climate catastrophe
THE decade is coming to an end and in its wake is an era on a par with the revolutionary changes of the sixties.
#MeToo has brought justice to women, social media changed the definition of fame, the smartphone connected us all, and fidget spinners left the world transfixed.
But despite all the positives the 2010s has given us, one big negative is that we have ignored global warming.
The decade will be known as the time when we knew what was going to hit us hardest – but did nothing about it around the world. To think that just four years ago, the leader of the free world was as committed to global leadership as he was about climate change.
At a conference in Paris in December 2015, after decades of frustrated hopes, Barack Obama, along with other world leaders, committed to reducing the greenhouse-gas emissions that endanger human civilisation – together.
It was an issue I admit to previously paying little attention to.
But during the last decade in which I’ve seen the Amazon burn, the Arctic ice caps melt and Britain’s dirty plastic blight the streets of the Far East, it has spurred me into acting more responsibly towards the planet.
The urgent need to cut down on our waste and reduce our carbon emissions cannot be underestimated. But when you see what happened last week during the final days of the United Nations-sponsored climate talks in Madrid, it is no wonder teenagers like Greta Thunberg are skipping school to take up the cause.
Whereas Obama once led the world in its fight against climate change, US representatives in Spain not only refused to lead, they pushed in the opposite direction.
The environmental train that was once the Paris agreement now has its wheels firmly coming off, and it is Donald Trump, who is driving.
Whether it be leaving the accord, rolling back on clean power, repealing rules that aim to restrict methane leaks, lifting restrictions on coal rules or cutting clean water protection, the President’s record on climate is there for everyone to see. This week, Trump, who calls climate change a “hoax”, has spent another week rage-tweeting, as the world continues to warm.
He launched a personal assault on Thunberg saying she has as an “anger management problem”, adding the environmental activist needs to “chill”.
It was his latest cyber assault on the 16-year-old amid the backdrop of his wife’s internet anti-bullying campaign.
Under Trump, the US no longer cares to lead the world on pressing issues. Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on major emissions commitments leading into Paris, paving the way for the broader international pact.
Trump, on the other hand, shows no concern for the future of the planet.
Amid the developments in Madrid, the EU this past week adopted the aim of producing no net carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
“Our goal is to reconcile our economy with our planet, and make it work for our people,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
It is impossible to imagine those words coming from Trump as Americans have to look across an ocean for global leadership on one of the world’s most pressing issues.
Trump’s policies have been to put “America first” and Mother Nature second.
No wonder teenagers like Greta Thunberg are skipping school to take up the cause