Make a change, invest in the future

Iam dismayed by the sight of two giant SUVs showed at an exhibition in the Doha Exhibition Center, which is running during the climate change talks.

Admittedly, both were lowemission, I am told one installed with a carbon dioxide capture system, while the other had a thermoelectric generator and a photovoltaic cell on its sunroof.

No doubt, they’re more environmentally friendly, than gasoline versions of equal proportion. But, why the need for such size? To cut emissions, why not just drive a smaller car?

Commercializing these kinds of technologies would be incredible expensive.

So changing the world’s consumption habits must be a better goal.

If Chinese consumer incomes were as high as those in Qatar, and the prices of cars and gasoline were as affordable as they are here in its capital city, I have no doubt we would have even more large SUVs on our roads in China.

If only people could be convinced to live simpler, use less rather than more, then it wouldn’t be necessary to gather so many negotiators from more than 200 countries to discuss how to cut the world’s carbon footprint.

Many NGOs have set up information booths around the conference, and are hosting side events during the talks.

One colorful brochure, in particular, caught my eye

teaching materials from the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation, a Taiwan-based NGO focused on climate change education.

Hsieh Ying-shih, the foundation’s chairman, tells me it has hosted lectures in more than 200 primary schools back in Taiwan.

The youngsters work out the carbon footprints of the transport they use to get to school, the electricity they use eating, and on other everyday activities. With funny cartoon stories, videos and interaction, kids get to know how emissions are contributing to the earth’s problems.

With this kind of thinking firmly implanted in their young minds, hopefully they can adjust their lifestyles for the rest of the lives.

I can’t help thinking, “what a pity this kind of education wasn’t available when most of us were young”. Though it’s risky to blame single events on climate change, it has become a reality that we are seeing more extreme weather events, which are affecting everyone’s lives.

As a Beijing citizen, I experienced the extraordinary heavy rain which swept across