Editorial comment: Climate change cannot be ignored any more
A UN report warns that we have until 2030 to act to save our planet from cataclysmic destruction
The year 2030. That’s as long as we’ve got to get our planet in order. According to a landmark report issued on Monday by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we are all now collectively at tipping point when it comes to global warming. And unless we manage to prevent global warming from going over 1.5 degrees Celsius, we face significantly worsened risks of extreme heat, drought, floods and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.
Clearly, the IPCC report is the most damning yet of our collective efforts to try and halt the warming of our planet — and it serves as a clarion call for action by the world’s governments to meet their commitments on climate change. Failure to do so sets this planet on a course for slow cataclysmic self-destruction by 2040. Should we collectively fail, weather events will become more extreme and happen more often, making it more difficult and much more expensive to maintain normalcy. And the effects of those extreme weather conditions will be devastating on coastal communities, the marine environment, animal, bird and fish species, plantation, soil, agriculture, economics — all resulting in unprecedented political and social upheaval.
While there are still legions who believe that climate change is some sort of a hoax perpetrated by the research and science community for nefarious liberal gains, they are simply now burying their heads in the sand. This IPCC report explains in very real terms what will happen if we don’t act together and collectively reverse the warming trend that has seen this planet heat artificially by 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial levels, and on course to heat up by another 1.5 degree Celsius in the coming decade. Certainly, the leadership and government of the UAE is fully committed to the targets of the Paris agreement and have embarked on a series of initiatives both nationally and internationally to promote renewable energy and reduce its carbon footprint.
Whether it be in building a nuclear generating plant at Al Barakah or through the construction of solar parks, the provision of district cooling schemes, the promotion of electric and alternatively-fuelled vehicles, the development of extensive rail, metro and public transit networks, the introduction of smart meters and billing by public utility companies, urging the conservation of water supplies and by offering recycling options — all of these initiatives together show the commitment to reducing our carbon footprint at every level of government.
We all too have a part to play — one that’s more critical than ever before. Turn it off, switch it off, take public transport and make a green choice. Our future depends on it.