Sri Lanka faces more and more natural disasters as severe droughts, coastal erosion, heat waves which are somehow linked to climate change. IPCC findings, published in 2004, clearly shows that increase of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere as the reason for climate change. This includes Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrogen Dioxide, CFC, and even Water Vapor. It is estimated that the temperature rise will be 2 to 5 degrees Centigrade at the end of the century. Some even believe of a more severe temperature increase and 40 cm sea level rise by 2080. Some assessments state that the rise of average temperature by 4 to 5 degrees Centigrade will raise the sea level by 3 to 5 meters which leads to break up of ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica. Greenpeace says the breakdown of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet alone contains enough ice to increase the sea level by 5 meters. And if all ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica melt entirely, the sea level will rise by 70 meters.
Although the countries except the United States signed the Kyoto Protocol which agreed to reduce 5.2 % of CO2 emissions, none of the countries have fulfilled the agreed obligation yet. The World cannot be saved by the bodies appointed for saving it unless we all unite and act accordingly. Sri Lanka has made less contributions to climate change. Although, our GDP is high enough to become a middle income country, we are still an agrarian nation. However, we need to understand that the current development paradigm is not climate friendly. Most developed countries followed the thinking of Develop Today & Conserve Tomorrow .. However, the environmental disasters, including climate change, have shown that this has been a failed approach.
Today, we are facing three major crises such as food crisis, climate crisis, and financial crisis. At the end, the humanity is in a serious crisis. Though the world will recover from the financial crisis, there is no easy solution for the food crisis and the climate crisis.
The Developed Countries in the north have already exceeded their fair share in their resources utilization. They also have exceeded the use of the environmental space. The developed countries, representing less than one fifth of the world’s population, have emitted almost three quarters of all historical emissions. On a per person basis, they are responsible for more than ten times the historical emissions of developing countries. The Developed Nations owe the Developing Nations a huge Ecological Debt and Emission Debt. They are not yet ready to pay this debt. Honouring these obligations is not only necessary but it is also the basis of a fair and effective solution to climate change. Those who benefited most in the course of causing climate change must compensate those who contributed least to it but bear its adverse effects. Unfortunately, the poor majority in the world suffers most from both the food crisis and the climate crisis. According to Greenpeace more than 120 million people will become climate refugees by the end of the century in India and Bangladesh alone. According to OXFAM, a charity organization, the world will require 50 to 140 billion USD a year for the poorer countries to adapt to climate change. Sri Lankans who engage in nature based livelihoods, are already suffering from climate change. As the climate change is a very new issue to the authorities in Sri Lanka, they do not have any relevant statistics. However, we cannot ignore climate change anymore as it is already causing impacts. If we are to promote a Carbon Neutral Economy, we still have the opportunity and time for it. It is not advisable to wait for the government agencies to show the red flag on climate change. Every individual has the responsibility to act on climate change. The authorities need a more dynamic approach on climate change. The Coal based energy dependency in Sri Lanka is not climate friendly. Although Wind energy and Solar energy are climate friendly, Sri Lanka state bodies have a phobia in promoting these innovative energy concepts and they still have a learning exercise on climate change. But, we should not underestimate the climate impacts to Sri Lanka as we are an island in the Bay of Bengal ..
The Globe must think of adopting :: Develop In A Sustainable Manner While Respecting All The Conservation Efforts ::
Although the countries except the United States signed the Kyoto Protocol which agreed to reduce 5.2 % of CO2 emissions, none of the countries have fulfilled the agreed obligation yet. The World cannot be saved by the bodies appointed for saving it unless we all unite and act accordingly. Sri Lanka has made less contributions to climate change. Although, our GDP is high enough to become a middle income country, we are still an agrarian nation. However, we need to understand that the current development paradigm is not climate friendly. Most developed countries followed the thinking of Develop Today & Conserve Tomorrow .. However, the environmental disasters, including climate change, have shown that this has been a failed approach.
Today, we are facing three major crises such as food crisis, climate crisis, and financial crisis. At the end, the humanity is in a serious crisis. Though the world will recover from the financial crisis, there is no easy solution for the food crisis and the climate crisis.
The Developed Countries in the north have already exceeded their fair share in their resources utilization. They also have exceeded the use of the environmental space. The developed countries, representing less than one fifth of the world’s population, have emitted almost three quarters of all historical emissions. On a per person basis, they are responsible for more than ten times the historical emissions of developing countries. The Developed Nations owe the Developing Nations a huge Ecological Debt and Emission Debt. They are not yet ready to pay this debt. Honouring these obligations is not only necessary but it is also the basis of a fair and effective solution to climate change. Those who benefited most in the course of causing climate change must compensate those who contributed least to it but bear its adverse effects. Unfortunately, the poor majority in the world suffers most from both the food crisis and the climate crisis. According to Greenpeace more than 120 million people will become climate refugees by the end of the century in India and Bangladesh alone. According to OXFAM, a charity organization, the world will require 50 to 140 billion USD a year for the poorer countries to adapt to climate change. Sri Lankans who engage in nature based livelihoods, are already suffering from climate change. As the climate change is a very new issue to the authorities in Sri Lanka, they do not have any relevant statistics. However, we cannot ignore climate change anymore as it is already causing impacts. If we are to promote a Carbon Neutral Economy, we still have the opportunity and time for it. It is not advisable to wait for the government agencies to show the red flag on climate change. Every individual has the responsibility to act on climate change. The authorities need a more dynamic approach on climate change. The Coal based energy dependency in Sri Lanka is not climate friendly. Although Wind energy and Solar energy are climate friendly, Sri Lanka state bodies have a phobia in promoting these innovative energy concepts and they still have a learning exercise on climate change. But, we should not underestimate the climate impacts to Sri Lanka as we are an island in the Bay of Bengal ..
The Globe must think of adopting :: Develop In A Sustainable Manner While Respecting All The Conservation Efforts ::
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