Villager in Navua, Fiji, at his ancestral burial ground,
which is now covered by the sea at high tide due to rising sealevels.
which is now covered by the sea at high tide due to rising sealevels.
I was forced to interrupt the planned regular program of posts which would have been on the on-going series about my trip to London to bring to you this important message:
WHAT WERE OUR WORLD LEADERS THINKING?!?!?!
It was a cold, cold day in Copenhagen when the recent Conference of Parties on Climate Change ended with no binding agreement on how to reduce the global levels of greenhouse gases. Leaders from some 190 countries met but failed to put the needs of the world first before selfish individual nationalistic aspirations.
There was no binding agreement to reduce levels of greenhouse gases effectively and there was no agreement to provide the USD 300 billion already believed to be needed to counter the effect of climate change and to equip the poorer countries to be part of the solution.
Cosmologist and mathematician Stephen W. Hawking said global warming has eclipsed other threats to the planet, such as terrorism. "Terror only kills hundreds or thousands of people," Hawking said. "Global warming could kill millions. We should have a war on global warming rather than the war on terror."
But it seems all the world leaders are unable to play fair and work together to solve the climate change problems. Several images come to mind.
Image 1: "All the world's leaders and all the kings couldn't put the world back together again" (with apologies to Humpty Dumpty )
Image 2: "Our leaders fiddled with numbers while the world burned" (with no apologies to Nero)
Image 3: "Let's not scare the people and ruin our economy" (with no apologies to all the villainous, bureaucrats/mayors/leaders from Hollywood disaster movies like Jaws and others where they ignore the warning of scientists).
Let's tell our leaders that we don't want this sort of "business as usual" leadership. We truly need someone to come and rise up to this emergency and we all need to support them.
Climate Change is already going to cause death, suffering and economic lost. We need action and not more hot air from self serving politicians.
There was no binding agreement to reduce levels of greenhouse gases effectively and there was no agreement to provide the USD 300 billion already believed to be needed to counter the effect of climate change and to equip the poorer countries to be part of the solution.
Cosmologist and mathematician Stephen W. Hawking said global warming has eclipsed other threats to the planet, such as terrorism. "Terror only kills hundreds or thousands of people," Hawking said. "Global warming could kill millions. We should have a war on global warming rather than the war on terror."
But it seems all the world leaders are unable to play fair and work together to solve the climate change problems. Several images come to mind.
Image 1: "All the world's leaders and all the kings couldn't put the world back together again" (with apologies to Humpty Dumpty )
Image 2: "Our leaders fiddled with numbers while the world burned" (with no apologies to Nero)
Image 3: "Let's not scare the people and ruin our economy" (with no apologies to all the villainous, bureaucrats/mayors/leaders from Hollywood disaster movies like Jaws and others where they ignore the warning of scientists).
Let's tell our leaders that we don't want this sort of "business as usual" leadership. We truly need someone to come and rise up to this emergency and we all need to support them.
Climate Change is already going to cause death, suffering and economic lost. We need action and not more hot air from self serving politicians.
Posts
17 comments:
We are such fools.
I am in the environmental business myself and what happened is disappointing although I am skeptical enough to expect such an outcome.
It is close to impossible to reconcile the developing countries need for growth and developed countries high footprint. Much stronger measures should be taken in the West before it has the moral authority to impose the needed measures to India and China.
I hope this will happen soon
We in the West struggle with corrupt officials and, most recently, with a president who has been too preoccupied with his own personal agenda.
It saddens me to see how world leaders simply can't stop thinking about their own agendas and see the bigger picture. But I can't say that I'm surprised.
The Bible does say that things will get worse in the world before Jesus returns. Now... exactly how worse? I'm afraid to guess on that. But during difficult and disappointing times it is good to remember that this world still belongs to God. And one day He will make things as they should be.
Oh! And Merry Christmas, by the way! :)
I visit your blog by way of my sister Joyce. Do you ever think this world will work together to solve our problems. I don`t. Read Revelations and see what so many others can`t! Betty
secret agent woman,
Romans 1 :22 "although they claim to be wise, they became fools....." Knowledge without wisdom can be worthless.
Ruslan,
I work for a nature conservation organisation. In what way are you involved in the environmental business? Are you involved specifically on climate Change related issues?
All of us have to do more on this. China, India and US have to do a lot more but we must also recognise the need of countries to develop. I heard President Calderone of Mexico propose some complex calculation based on carbon output per capita and GDP per capita. Maybe that is the fair way.
Sincerity,
Corruption is everywhere and I wager it is much worse in many developing nations than in the West. But perhaps more importantly, many governments are too tightly influenced and controlled by big business and this is a stumbling block to political independence and integrity.
I too believe in the prophecies of the end times and as such realise that things will eventually get worse. But I do not think that this means that we should stop fighting injustice, stop tending the poor and quit managing the planet wisely. We are meant to be the salt of the world and our actions can make things better and perhaps delay the decay.
Have a blessed Christmas.
Betty,
Good of you to come by and leave a comment. Part of my response to your comment is in my reply to Sincerity above. In the end, the world will not be able to solve its problems because of man's sinful nature of greed, pride and selfishness. But I believe that Christians can still make a difference. The Lord's Prayer includes this line " Thy will be done on earth as it is on heaven..."
If we pray that, then we cannot ignore the suffering, injustice or mismanagement of the world. We must do our part. Because of Christian initiatives, much of the world has education, access to medicine, mostly banned slavery etc. We must continue to do what we can.
There are two giant problems that can't seem to be resolved:
1) When things are forecast to be in the future, people think it does not apply to them.
2) There are still scientists saying that the earth has cycles and that heating up and cooling down are part of the normal cycles.
Until all the scientists agree with each other, nothing will happen.
I hope the Bahamas don't swamp! Because I just found out they're a tax haven and I decided I want to 1. leave nasty Britain and 2. not pay any taxes. Especially not to Gordon Brown.
Re world politics ~ basically nothing's going to happen till it's too late. I came to terms with this years ago and saved myself a hell of a lot of anger and stress... I'm sure you feel the same way too. But what a terrible state to be in 95% of the time ~~ political APATHY ... but that's surely what the Ruling Classes WANT!!!
Odd; I visited this same topic today.
geewits,
Sadly there are still scientists who are willing to testify in court that cigarette smoking does not cause lung cancer. People should realise that the scientists that hold out against the global warming theory are the extreme minority. This doesn't mean they may not be right but surely we need to act on the opinion of the majority.
A good illustration is if a country starts mobilising its army to the border with the U.S. 90% of analysts believe this is in preparation of an invasion of the U.S. but 10% thinks they are merely bluffing. would it be wise not to act just because not all the analysts agree?
Sometimes our media today give too much equal airtime to the minority opinion so much that it appears to have equal support as the vastly majority opinion.
Last point, is that some scientists' opinion can be bought!
:) Have a blessed and not too badly messed up by Climate Change, Christmas.
Gledwood,
I'm pretty sure Bahamas is going to have the problems of rising seawater as well as more severe hurricanes. You might want to escape to somewhere else.
Mark,
It must be a little difficult writing about that from Car City.
There is a very good article in the recent New Yorker magazine regarding what global warming is doing to both the polar caps, and in particular to the wildlife that live there. Penguins in the Antarctic are dying from being too warm. Their food is disappearing.
I don't hold out much hope.
Hello LGS! Fröhliche Weihnachten und Gottes Segen! For you and all Yours. If you are still traveling I wish you a safe return also.
Jo,
I try to remain optimistic. But it is difficult.
Dear Mago,
Mögen Sie ein gesegnetes Weihnachten genießen.
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