Stop Talking; Start Doing!

Climate change protests (Image Source: Google)

Amidst one of the worst water shortages our nation has faced since independence, it is evident that there is a dire need for some serious effort for its management and conservation to fight the shortage. Apart from managing the water resources, we need to work towards sustainability in regards to every other aspect of our environment. Because the origin of every problem in the environment is climate change and increased carbon footprint because of human activities. With the emergence of institutes like NITI Aayog, Jal Shakti, etc., in India, there is optimism for some dedicated work from the government's end to curb these problems, but the people as well need to do the work on their end. Instead of just discussing these issues, raising their concerns, and moving on with their lives unaltered.

Recently, there was a petition on change.org to 'Declare Climate Change as an emergency in India'. It was extensively circulated on the social media platforms, to get other people to sign it and get the Ministry of Environment to declare climate change as an emergency like many other countries around the world (with the UK being the first country to do so). The main idea behind this motion is that an emergency places climate change at the center of policy and planning decisions in a country. But even the local governments can adopt the ideology of directing their policies towards curbing climate change. But, why is there a wave to declare this as a 'National Emergency' suddenly? The government could still base their policies towards limiting climate change, reducing carbon footprint and developing a sustainable solution for all the problems.

There many reasons for the sudden, alarming focus on this issue. Recently, in a high-level General Assembly meeting of the UN, it was said that we perhaps have only 11 years remaining to prevent irreversible damage from Climate Change. With this generation being the last generation to prevent the irreparable damage to our planet. Moreover, over the past few years, the intensification of every season (whether summer or winter) has given the people a quite apparent impression of the effect of our activities on our planet. With every passing day, that no step is taken towards reverting the damage dealt, the need for more arduous effort to make our surroundings liveable in the future. There is no doubt that some adverse effects that our activities have had on our planet may not be very drastic, and we may get enough time to adapt to those changes. Just like all the living organisms on our planet evolve and get accustomed to the surroundings, the Earth also undergoes a multitude of variations, where climate change is just one of them. But that doesn't mean that we don't need to work towards improving the situation and wait for the time when none of our technology would be able to cope with the changes.

A big problem is the ignorance of some people towards this issue. In an article talking about climate change, and whether it is as important to be declared as an emergency by countries around the world. The critical thought of the writer was that there no such need, and in fact, the ‘positive effects of climate change’ outweigh the adverse effects since the period industrial revolution (post which the damage has amplified considerably)! These are the people who despite being aware of the issue, choose to not do anything about it. Probably the best-known proponent of this laid-back attitude is the leader of the most powerful country, the 'Cheeto-In-Chief.'

A person with the latent power of creating a considerable difference for the cause of climate change. He is the best paragon of such people, who don't care about things like global warming or their carbon footprint, as long as their trade flourishes.

But there has been a growth in awareness about these issues over the past few decades, with children being taught about saving the environment in the schools, fields like environmental engineering coming up and emerging of organizations (such as Carbon Engineering, Global Thermostat, etc.) with an aim to reduce harmful emissions and reduce global warming. This is an effort of the people who don’t just rely on others to be talked into doing something to combat climate change, this has risen from the effort people actually trying to bring a change. 

There was a time when even creating awareness would have been a big step towards solving the environmental problems around us, but that time is long gone, and today, that isn't the case anymore. People need to do something about it; change their habits, build and use sustainable products, and reduce waste.

To read more about the meet in the UN: Only 11 Years Left to Prevent Irreversible Damage from Climate Change, Speakers Warn during General Assembly High-Level Meeting

And if you haven't already come across this petition a million times, here it is: Petition to declare climate change as an emergency in India