World leaders do nothing in the face of unprecedented droughts and floods across the globe linked to climate change
Pakistan floods | geographyblogwordpresscouk
The northern hemisphere has been suffering a series of huge environmental disasters brought about by climate change. There are devastating droughts in China, Europe the US and the Middle East. Huge rivers are drying up. Heat-waves accompany the droughts. At the same time, we have seen cataclysmic floods in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This should be a warning to world leaders that something drastic must be done on a global scale. It is not sufficient to focus only on their own countries, as most leaders are doing. Emmanuel Macron of France referred to a tipping point or great upheaval. But apart from predicting the “end of abundance”, and warning of future sacrifices, he had nothing serious to offer.
Climate leadership?
It seems that these leaders are content to wait till the next COP conference (COP27 in Egypt later this year). From there we will have noble speeches, but if it is anything like previous conferences it will be business as usual and no attempt to show real climate leadership.
The worsening situation calls for a global response. What could leaders do to stop climate change? Firstly, declare a global emergency, in which existing rules that prevent action can be overridden. Then immediately start to drastically cut down on the burning of fossil fuel, and mobilizing huge funding for renewable energy and CO2 free technologies.
Present leaders do not have the stomach for such action. We need new leaders and a break with the economic and social systems that are preventing the necessary changes.
Droughts, Floods and Climate Change
The northern hemisphere has been suffering a series of huge environmental disasters brought about by climate change. There are devastating droughts in China, Europe the US and the Middle East. Huge rivers are drying up. Heat-waves accompany the droughts. At the same time, we have seen cataclysmic floods in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This should be a warning to world leaders that something drastic must be done on a global scale. It is not sufficient to focus only on their own countries, as most leaders are doing. Emmanuel Macron of France referred to a tipping point or great upheaval. But apart from predicting the “end of abundance”, and warning of future sacrifices, he had nothing serious to offer.
Climate leadership?
It seems that these leaders are content to wait till the next COP conference (COP27 in Egypt later this year). From there we will have noble speeches, but if it is anything like previous conferences it will be business as usual and no attempt to show real climate leadership.
The worsening situation calls for a global response. What could leaders do to stop climate change? Firstly, declare a global emergency, in which existing rules that prevent action can be overridden. Then immediately start to drastically cut down on the burning of fossil fuel, and mobilizing huge funding for renewable energy and CO2 free technologies.
Present leaders do not have the stomach for such action. We need new leaders and a break with the economic and social systems that are preventing the necessary changes.