Climate Change - a shared responsibility

Climate Change - a shared responsibility

Climate change is unequivocal and is identified as the most seious threat facing humanity today, including developing and developed countries. If there is one issue that strikes at the heart of the entire humanity, it is the climate variability.

According to scientists, a rise of at least two metres in the world’s sea levels is now almost unstoppable. Remember Maldive islands.... Since 80% of its 1,200 islands are no more than 1m above sea level, within 100 years the Maldives could become uninhabitable. The entire populations of nearly 360,000 need to be evacuated and relocated.

The impact of climate change on human and natural systems poses a severe challenge to reducing poverty and spreading of diseases. This is evident now from looking at recent images in newspapers worldwide - heavy flood in Manila and choking of Sydney by dust storm, and observation of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.

But, can the global leaders, with their entrenched patterns of conflict, self-interest, quarrels between rich and poor nations and short-sighted behavior of political leaders, commit to possible cooperation for a long-range planning on a global scale?

I doubt. The global nature of the climate changes calls for leaders to examine the underlying interdependence and onenss of humanity. More than 150 years ago, Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Baha’i Faith warned that humanity would face an increasing number of severe and unprecedented calamities until it recognized and fully embraced its underlying unity. The threat posed by global warming offers yet another opportunity to discover within ourselves the fundamental reality upon which the peace, security and well being of the entire planet depend.

Bahá’í writings state, “implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced.” And at the heart of this change stands Bahá’u’lláh’s imperative: “Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self.” And this unity cannot be created without justice among developing and developed nations.

Finally, as the UN Cimate Chief Yvo de Boer said, the Time is not just pressing. It has almost run out,” and the current global leaders are accountable for this act.

Tsunami 2004

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