Millions of youth today are suffering from climate change-induced depression due to the bleak future they shall get
The climate crisis is now an international problem affecting all the countries and cannot be mitigated by any one nation alone. If the industrialized countries along with the USA and China do not cooperate with each other, the objective of solving the global climate crisis will remain a distant dream. The world will remain unhealthy and uninhabitable for the next generation. Thus here is the proper time for a radical change in geopolitical relationships not only to showcase the reality of international cooperation for the best interest of all the countries but also for the survival of the planet.
The last decade has seen eight hottest years on record and July 2023 has already become the hottest month in the last 100,000 years. Across the USA, in the July month, daily highest temperature has been broken in dozens of cities. Smoke from wildfires in Canada enveloped US cities and drifted away to far-off places around the world, leading to severely unhealthy air quality. Not only the US but China too faced heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures last month including devastating floods causing deaths to hundreds of people and displacing millions of people. Not only heatwaves but also oceans are posing a great threat with 44 percent of the global ocean surface having soared temperature. India too is no exception, heatwave and drought have affected 38 percent of the total Indian districts.
In this scenario, there are both good news and bad news. The good news is that recent years have seen the transition of the global economy away from fossil fuels to more environment-friendly energy resources. Major investments have been made in different countries. For example, the USA has invested $300 bn in clean energy by passing the Inflation Reduction Act. China too invested $546 bn in clean energy and continues to invest in manufacturing and deploying enough renewal energy infrastructure. The European Union too laid out a plan to invest more than $1tn over the next decade. Noticeably, large sections of the corporate world too have started investing in sustainable energy. The International Energy Agency has hoped that the global economic community will invest around $1.6tn in renewable energy in comparison to $1tn in fossil fuel.
The bad news is that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that if climate investment models are not finalized soon, the world will pass the key 1.5 Celsius threshold by early 2030, leading to a riskier future for our children.
Thus developed nations have to urgently implement the mitigation procedure to combat the already foreboding miserable condition. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the USA has pumped more carbon into the air than any other nation. China too is rapidly eclipsing the US and Western countries in terms of carbon emissions.
Thus in these threatening conditions what we need is a radical idea of shrugging off war-mongering investment and adopting cooperation among leading industrialized countries to improve renewable energy sources, adopt energy-efficient technology, and end our dependence on fossil fuels. They should provide support for developing nations who are suffering from climate change though no charge against them can be formed. Millions of youth today are suffering from climate change-induced depression due to the bleak future they shall get. Many people are thinking about whether they will have babies or not, seeing the various challenges posed by climate change.
Thus this is the right time to act boldly to save the planet and we hope it will be a reality soon.
The writer can be reached at ar**********@***il.com