Climate Change: Collective Force to Make the Needle Move

We know the bad news about climate change and the environment. The wires hum incessantly as more comes in from across the planet.

Some of us are angry, very angry about it. And we are going hoarse venting about it on every available platform.

These voices have forced governments, policymakers, experts and activists to engage in dialogue continuously so they may come up with necessary agreements, treaties and laws to check and reverse any damage while we still can.

We know the bad news. We know what can be done. And yet, we continue to drift, to slide, to sink. Clearly, we are not doing the right thing, or enough of it, or both. The intent amongst a few is there, but it’s not converting to effective action involving the human population at large. We need to go back to the drawing board: reinforce what’s working, discard what’s not, and design what needs to.

To make the needle move. It has not, so far, despite all the talk and action. And it won’t – till a certain force is applied. It will be adequate only when every human being, without exception, brings their weight to bear on it. The gears will stay stuck until then.

Such collective effort may be metaphorical, but what does it mean in real terms? Nothing short of modification of our lifestyles. At the individual level, we need to measure our material consumption, redesign our diet, recalibrate our priorities, redefine happiness, focus on our health. It’s possible partly by individual choice, and largely by legislation. There is an excessive skew towards economy as the barometer of success for corporations and nations. Only when environmental sustainability and social development take precedence over championing of (financial) wealth creation will we be able to see light through the fog of CO2 enveloping the planet.

That would be the starting point of replacing CO2 with GO2, or Green Dioxide.

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