Like every international day and week by the UN, which is used to educate the public on issues of concern, mobilise political will and resources to address global problems, and celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity, the world, according to reports, converged for an interactive dialogue on Monday, April 24, 2023, to mark Earth Day 2023. Speakers discussed how to live in harmony with nature instead of adopting an anarchic lifestyle.
This piece applauds efforts to promote harmony with nature through interactive dialogues that allow policymakers to learn about methodologies that enhance a balanced integration of the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, but there are reasons to worry that most earth-focused sustainable protection gatherings are neither ready to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement nor ready to educate.
This year’s celebration is complicated by the fact that while climate change advocates insist on the need for the world to significantly reduce carbon emissions to slow down climate change due to its increasingly severe impacts, there is a veiled reluctance across continents and disciplines (academic and environmental professionals) about the authenticity and accuracy of such “sermons.”
Even after the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for international action to avoid increasingly severe climate impacts in the future and outlined steps to achieve the goal, many still view calls for a major reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from sectors like energy production and transportation as a dangerous fiction aimed at suffocating some continents and busting others.
The Pew Research Centre, a non-partisan think tank in Washington, DC, found that Americans are unwilling to phase out fossil fuels and that climate change is a lesser priority than other national concerns. According to the research, 31% believe the U.S. should eliminate oil, coal, and natural gas. 67% want a mix of fossil fuels and renewable energy.
The survey noted that most Americans favour the U.S. becoming carbon neutral by 2050, but political leaders (58%) and the energy industry (55%) are doing too little to address climate change. In another Centre study from May 2022, 58% of Americans felt the federal government should do more to mitigate global climate change.
Pew noted that coal mining is the only activity in the poll where public attitudes are negative: 39% believe the federal government should oppose coal mining, 21% say it should support it, and 39% say neither.
Throughout the last decade, US Democrats and Republicans have diverged in their views on climate change.
It is a top priority for 59% of Democrats. Republicans rate it second-to-last, and only 13% consider it a key concern. According to 19-country Pew Research Centre surveys, global climate change concern has also increased. Several advanced nations worry more than Americans. 81% of French citizens and 73% of Germans consider climate change a significant concern.
Nigeria’s discussion is similar. Climate change has been a riddle, ongoing, and elusive.
I recently listened intently to Professor Tosan Harriman of Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria.
In Warri, Delta State, Tosan remarked, “We observed the hypocrisy of these people (Western nations) lately when, because of the Ukraine-Russian war, they are not talking anymore about clean energy; rather, we saw them go back to focusing on coal, getting out coal to fuel the heat.”
Africa is blessed, has riches, and is relying on those resources to maintain a global world order; thus, it cannot throw away its resources. My opinion is that taking Africa’s resources is like committing Africa to another new colonial trend that will eventually incapacitate it and make it useful in the global situation.
Hence, let’s rethink our role in Europe, America, and climate change politics. Climate change is simply economic. If they seize your comparative advantage, it opens them up to their economic worth in a worldwide network, where they can sell clean energy to people like us in Africa who don’t need it. Before discussing this other issue, we need to clarify these facts.
Clean energy—resistance to greenhouse gas emissions—is a global topic. The globe has been discussing our crude oil-derived carbon. They required clean energy to keep the Arctic Circle high and balance the ecology according to their belief that it had always been there.
In Europe and America, if you want clean energy, you shouldn’t talk about coal in the 21st century because coal emits greenhouse gases. If you go to the Queen’s home, you’ll see them using coal. I keep making the argument that if Norway has the level of oil we have, nobody will be talking about greenhouse gases or climate change. I’ve always believed that every nation should be using clean energy.
He noted during the Cairo 27th meeting that the best the world can do is look at the problems of African nations, which he called “dependent nations” and dependent on the global scenario. We should look at their situations, and then we can’t take them or the issues that directly sustain them. We can’t talk about climate change when the entire continent of Africa depends on greenhouses. We can scientifically examine this resource and adapt it to alleviate these other climate change groups’ anxieties. He decided that the world must hear our concerns because they are so significant.
While Professor Tosan’s thesis made sense, I still remember with fondness how Mr. Ronald Kayanja, Director, UNIC, lectured about climate change but had a different perspective. On Friday, September 20, 2019, in Lagos, the International Day of Peace was celebrated under the theme Climate Action for Peace. Kayanja’s views on climate change were opposed by Tosan’s.
Kayanja utilised analytical tools and well-framed arguments to show how the ongoing war in north-east Nigeria is linked to climate change. Climate change also creates the environment for farmer-herder violence in portions of West Africa and many African nations with violent conflicts, such as Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Sudan (Darfur), Mali, and the Central African Republic.
He underlined that local concerns over food and water supplies can flow over into neighbouring nations as people seek greater resources and safety, straining other countries’ resources and escalating tensions. Climate change intensifies natural resource strains, increasing the likelihood of conflict.
Indeed, apart from Kayanjas’ definition of “climate change” as changes in these weather patterns over several decades or more that make a place warmer, drier, or rainier, what made the lecture crucial was the new awareness of the dangers of and warning of the urgent need to address climate change, which he said have become even clearer with the release of a major report in October 2018 by the world’s leading scientific body for the assessment of climate change.
The UN Chief stated that the UN Secretary-General has made climate action a significant element of his global campaign, calling on all member nations to increase their ambition to rescue our world.
Eventually, as the globe celebrates Earth Day 2023 amid a climate change dispute, one thing appears clear: the world needs a habitable planet. That’s our obligation. Advocacy for Social and Economic Justice (SEJA), Lagos, Programme Coordinator (Media and Politics), Utomi. [email protected] 08032725374
