CLIMATE CHANGE HIT-LIST : THE VERY POOR

 

Who is hit the most by climate change? In one simple word : The Poor. In the story of climate change - everyone loses but the poor the very first.

Climate Change is the result of the wealthy nations exploiting fossil fuel to generate energy in order to run their industries. That creates an immense amount of carbon, accumulating in the atmosphere, blocking the escaping heat from the earth, all causing the warming of the planet.

 Drastic changes in generating energy and lifestyle changes generally have been recommended for avoiding the catastrophic effects resulting from the ever warming earth.

The poor countries are arguing that the problem of climate change is not of their making and so they should not be asked to alter their ways of running their economic engines and tangible engines. There is some justification in that argument.

However, the poor countries using dirty energy are doing so at their own peril. The poor countries as well as the poor people would be the first ones to fall from an ever warming planet.

There is an urgency as well as agency needed. The world not only needs to tackle the climate risks urgently but also everyone on an individual level needs to play a role. 

Parts of India are already uninhabitable such as Rajasthan, where summer temperatures rises to over 50 degrees centigrade. Deaths, hunger, displacement, loss of wherewithal, and so forth are rising directly due to the worsening climate.

The problems mentioned above and countless many more would hit the poor first because the rich would buy themselves time or worse yet, a home on Mars. The poor do not have a home even on earth.

The good news is that there is a solution. The rich countries that created this mess must alter their own ways and also provide funds to the poor nations around the world to help them transition toward clean energy such as solar energy.

The mega oil corporations than have an estimated $3 trillion worth of oil underground are making a steady shift towards renewable energy. The amount of money needed right now wouldn't  amount to even so much as a statistical error on the national budgets of the rich nations but it would be the best investment they would make towards preserving this planet.

There is FATF to check terror financing. Where is the global regime to check carbon emissions? The rich countries would surely be the worst criminals in that regime.

The World Students Society thanks author Imran Jan, a political analyst.