Leadership and the political will to protect the earth

The Holy Book tells us that the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. (Psalm 24:1, KJV). It was the Lord who created the earth, all the lands, the seas and life that is part of what we see today. Scientists have estimated that the earth is about 4.543 billion years old. The concern here is not the age of the earth, but the disaster – climate change – that is occurring daily on the earth.

The phenomenon of climate change is closely related to the state of the sea. Scientists have acknowledged that the interaction among the sea, land and the atmosphere shape the global environment. The effects are seen in world oceans, where storm intensity and rising sea levels have worsened coastal degradation, and floods resulting in natural and man – made disasters.

For decades, climate change has posed extreme threats to the world. Floods, wildfires, extreme heat waves, droughts, hurricanes and other natural disasters have made it clear to believers and non – believers that the phenomenon known as climate change is real. There is an overwhelming truth that there is climate change: Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk.

Today, the risks associated with climate change are many for about eight billion people globally. One of the risks is the breakout of diseases – bird flu, cholera, Ebola, plague and tuberculosis – which are spreading and may get worse as a result of climate change.

Read Also: Reps make law to tackle Nigeria’s climate change challenges

Now, it is Covid – 19 virus and its variants. The Covid – 19 pandemic is of grave concern to many people worldwide. The Covid – 19 pandemic is very dogged and mutating like a chameleon. The Delta Variant of the Covid – 19 is penetrating anything penetrable. Much has not been achieved regarding vaccination in most parts of the world. With vaccine nationalism, how are we sure that world leaders will muster the political will to combat a crisis such as climate change whose effects affect humanity and may linger for decades in the future?

Although the alarm bells are loud, it is believed that if the world combines forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe

With Covid – 19, it is easier for cynics to decide not to be vaccinated. With climate change, skeptics would have perhaps chosen an alternative reality – no climate change. But this is not the scenario now. The twenty most industrialized countries have contributed significantly to climate change through green – house gas emissions. The less developed countries are not exempted from the blame as they carry out reckless deforestation, gas flaring, water and air pollution activities, and etcetera. How can we rely on leaders of developed nations to assist in saving the planet when the world has been fighting a politically paralyzing battle between the use of face masks and vaccines?

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) panel on climate change submitted its latest report a few days ago. Report of the IPCC Working Group 1 is considered critical by environmental experts and public intellectuals. The report is a red alert for humanity in that it brought to focus the fact that human beings are largely responsible for climate change.

The IPCC’s report only validates decades of scientific predictions about the contributions of humanity to climate change and its severe impact over the entire planet. One can trust scientists. Some of them have argued that “To achieve the best-case scenario, reducing emissions will not be enough. We need to actively pull carbon out of the atmosphere – and “The necessary technologies barely exist.” We are waiting to see how this works out.

Although the alarm bells are loud, it is believed that if the world combines forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe. But as things stand today, the IPCC’s report makes it clear that “There is no time for delay and no room for excuses.” This view was re-echoed by Antonio Guterres, UN Sec Gen on 11 August 2021. This was coming at the heels of the UN report which painted a grim picture of a swiftly warming world and cascading environmental disasters. If experience of the past is anything to go by, one can suggest that delay and excuses are exactly what will happen – even as wildfires and other natural disasters make clear the effect of climate change.

The world, according to scientists, is almost hitting the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Warming has risen in recent decades and we need to move fast because disaster is on the horizon. Timing is of essence and leadership is imperative. Why? The extreme weather and climate disasters globally remind me of the tragedy occasioned by the tropical storm named Katrina. Sometime in 2005, no one would have thought that hurricane Katrina would reach the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with New Orleans as the concentration. In the end, many people died as a result of the hurricane. It was largely because those in authority who managed hurricane Katrina took wrong actions at the wrong time which led to the disaster. If the leaders had paid greater attention not only to what they did but also to when they did it, many more lives would have been saved. In order to battle climate change and protect the environment, world leaders should come together recognizing that this is the time to lead. Timing is often the difference between success and failure in any endeavor. Thank you.