Tackling climate change is everyone’s responsibility

Dear Editor,
There is still time for world leaders to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, and create a safer future, but that window is closing fast. If countries do not submit stronger national goals soon, it would be very hard to deliver on their goals to limit planetary warming to safer levels. As recent reports make very clear, if we don’t tackle climate change, it would cost our economy billions, and endanger our national security and our health.
World leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York City have zeroed in on climate change, recognising that people across the world are being harshly affected by the effects of climate change.
“We see the warning signs in every continent and region: scorching temperatures; shocking biodiversity losses; polluted air, water and natural spaces; and climate-related disasters at every turn,” the Secretary-General indicated to the world leaders.
Stepping up now to move towards renewable energy, more sustainable agriculture can yield economic benefits. The longer we wait, the more our communities would suffer under bigger floods, longer heatwaves, more severe droughts, and shrinking crop yields. We can’t afford that future.
Guyana, which is still recovering from the massive nationwide flooding earlier this year, has already shown an interest in providing climate leadership and championing the preservation of the United Nations-sponsored environment. President Dr Irfaan Ali made it clear, “Guyana commits to the provision of strong leadership, especially on issues of climate change and food security. We will continue to pursue the development of our resources and people through an expanded version of the Low Carbon Development Strategy.
“We further commit to support every effort that seeks to promote peace, democracy, respect for the rule of law, and deepening of regional integration. Our strength must be grounded in principles and values, not circumstances and events.”
Climate change is severely hampering the developing world’s progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. It was under the presidency of Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, who outlines an inclusive, low carbon, sustainable, clean, resilient path with increased economic opportunities and investments linked to greater social and infrastructural development for the benefit of all.
Climate change impacts are already a reality for millions. People from around the world will be watching to see what world leaders accomplish at this round of negotiations.
The question is: why are so many people aware of climate change, but unwilling to make lifestyle modifications that could potentially slow the impact?
While the aspiration is great to have, everyone knows that the sooner we act, the less damage will be done to society, to the economy, and to the environment.
We look to our Government for action, but tackling climate change is everyone’s responsibility. Via its website, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is very much to the fore in providing lots of very helpful suggestions on what ordinary citizens can do. There are two broad areas of change responsibility that we all need to embrace regarding climate change: mitigation and adaptation.
Mitigation is about changing how we live, move, consume, manufacture, and how we best use our land to reduce and/or eliminate the production of harmful greenhouse gases. Adaptation refers to dealing with the expected impacts of climate change, such as flooding and sea level rise, and involves taking practical actions to manage risks, protect communities, and strengthen the resilience of the economy.
The stark reality is that we will all have to stop doing certain things, and do other things differently. Take food for example; if targets are to be achieved, we all need to change our eating habits by eating local and by eating what is seasonal. We eat many foods that have travelled various distances across the world to get to our plates.
We may count the financial cost of the food, but few consider the environmental cost. Imagine the energy consumption for transport, refrigeration, storage, avoiding spoilage and providing additional packaging, not to mention the chemicals, additives and preservative put into the food to keep it fresh.
Contrast that energy need and environmental impact with eating locally-sourced fresh food from your own garden, allotment, local shop, or farmers’ market, not to mention the health and employment benefits for you, your community, and the local economy.

Sincerely,
David Adams