Human rulers, worldwide, are now attempting to react, at times in a disorderly scramble, to face the staggering challenges of climate change and its devastating consequences at the much-publicized COP 26, with rumbling speeches and commitments, and photo-taking to ornament the show, while Covid-19 is still playing, as it were, ‘catch me if you can’ with us, to mention only these. While there are other rampant woes and evils we tend to relegate, but similarly damaging to the quality of life, in the medium and longer terms. And to weigh heavily when comes the time of the impending divine intervention, however much the overwhelming majority believe this to be balderdash! But no need to jam the gun.
These eleventh hour COP reactions to address climate change – what in fact has been achieved between the 2015 Paris Conference and now? -, while experts had sounded the warning of impending dangers as far back as the early 1980s or thereabouts, and it is only now that we are earnestly in this debate when it is becoming clear that the consequences will certainly wreak havoc, as already demonstrated, with devastation that would even put the affluent states on their knees, while a chill is sent down the spine just to imagine the consequences for the poorer states. Already some scenes of devastation left behind by tornadoes, hurricanes, floods etc, all striking with unprecedented ferocity, are heart-breaking just to see the expression of despair on the faces of some afflicted ones.
Climate change, Covid-19 and economic recovery, while we are not yet in the aftermath of the pandemic for a full assessment of the extent of the damage, will be the main concerns of planetary rulers for years just ahead, while such distractions inevitably obscure vision to the calamity to come – with no possibility to convene any international conference this time around to address -, to significantly alter the destiny of humanity, to be the real watershed through a planetary cleansing of the living environment, in all the meaning of the term, something that may never occur through human achievements.
While in Glasgow, the bragging and talking tall in a procession of speeches often to play to the gallery will continue and some more bent to steal the show, resolutions to be taken such as those relating to deforestation and the continued use of fossil fuels, to mention only these – and almost certainly to be violated through greed and selfishness almost on the heels of the Glasgow conference, as we will see. And how not to be disturbed by such target dates of 2030 or 2050, while India wins the trophy with a target date of … 2070!!! (Most reading this note will be probably gone by that date). While those who contribute less to carbon emissions continue to be the greatest victims. COP 26 will only, as usual, be an international show we have often seen before but nothing really concrete to reverse the destructive trends of human activities over the past decades that experts say have triggered climate change. Defeatist? Read into the preceding what one may, but to believe humans can come up with something to beat that Bible prophecy I mentioned in preceding notes – I am reproducing to refresh the memory of the regular reader: ‘God will bring to ruin those ruining the earth’. (Bible book of Revelation 11:18) -, that would be stupidity!
That human rulers may never come up with anything for lasting common good in spite of promises, at times almost under oath, so to speak, just observe what ‘our guys’ do when they come back from Glasgow, apart from planting a tree here and there, when it suits them to do so and to be our contribution to check carbon emissions, just as we did to make Mauritius a ‘Covid-19 safe’ destination! To go into further details as to exactly demonstrate human limitations, one would struggle. But suffice it to say they don’t know anywhere enough to make valid decisions to address these emerging challenges effectively.
We usually say ‘better late than never’, when a taken action, however late, produces positive results. But what of COP 26? Attendons voir!
P.S.: The regular reader who happens to surf on Internet – Newsweek, CNN, Sky News etc – must have come across evidence of late that explain my oft-used terms of the like of ‘forerunner signs’, ‘unprecedented times’, ‘at this point of time’ etc.