Climate change is a phenomenon affecting all people in all walks of life, from individual citizens to whole
countries and huge multinational companies. Therefore, I disagree with the notion that the only way to
address the environmental problems is at international level. I firmly believe that this colossal problem
can only be handled if all individuals contribute; all governments take steps at national level and also join hands at an international level. Undoubtedly, gigantic steps need to be taken, and are being taken at the international level. The ‘COP21’ in Paris in November 2015 is a step in this direction. The aim of ‘COP21’ is well known: to reach a universal agreement limiting the rise in global average temperature to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. All nations are realizing that climate change is one of the greatest challenges faced by mankind today.
Many steps can be taken at the national level. Governments can aware people of the benefits of using
energy efficient devices. For instance, this year government of India gave 2 LED bulbs to each government employee at Rs 10/- each under the “Prakash Path” scheme. The cost of each bulb is Rs 400/-. The cost will be recovered by adding a very small amount in each month’s electricity bill for about year. In about 100 cities, the streetlights have been replaced with LED bulbs, which is a saving of a huge amount per day.
LED bulbs use a tenth of electricity as compared to other bulbs. Once people realize that by using LED
bulbs, their electricity bills will reduce, they will be prepared to make the initial heavy investment also.
Although the international and national level steps are imperative, it is also a fact that individual action
combined with governmental action can do a lot more to prevent climate change than if individual
citizens were not involved. In a world of six billion people, if everyone stopped wasting water, disposed
off their rubbish properly, started accepting recycled material and stopped succumbing to consumerism,
then it would go a long way in solving the problem of environment.
Summing up, individual citizens cannot sit back and say it is someone else’s responsibility to protect the
environment; we must all play our part – individual citizens and governments at the national and
international level.
Climate
change
is a phenomenon affecting all
people
in all walks of life, from
individual
citizens to whole
countries
and huge multinational
companies
.
Therefore
, I disagree with the notion that the
only
way to
address
the environmental problems is at
international
level
. I
firmly
believe that this colossal
problem
can
only
be handled
if all
individuals
contribute; all
governments
take
steps
at
national
level
and
also
join
hands at an
international
level
.
Undoubtedly
, gigantic
steps
need to
be taken
, and are
being taken
at the
international
level
. The ‘COP21’ in Paris in November 2015 is a
step
in this direction. The aim of ‘COP21’ is well known: to reach a universal agreement limiting the rise in global average temperature to
2°C
above
pre-industrial
levels
. All nations
are realizing
that climate
change
is one of the greatest challenges faced by mankind
today
.
Many
steps
can
be taken
at the
national
level
.
Governments
can aware
people
of the benefits of
using
energy
efficient devices.
For instance
, this year
government
of India gave 2 LED
bulbs
to each
government
employee at Rs 10/- each under the “Prakash Path” scheme. The cost of each
bulb
is Rs 400/-. The cost will
be recovered
by adding a
very
small
amount in each month’s electricity bill for about year. In about 100 cities, the streetlights have
been replaced
with LED
bulbs
, which is a saving of a huge amount per day.
LED
bulbs
use
a tenth of electricity as compared to other
bulbs
.
Once
people
realize that by using
LED
bulbs
, their electricity bills will
reduce
, they will
be prepared
to
make
the initial heavy investment
also
.
Although the
international
and
national
level
steps
are imperative, it is
also
a fact that
individual
action
combined with governmental action can do a lot more to
prevent
climate
change
than if individual
citizens
were not involved. In a world of six billion
people
, if everyone
stopped
wasting water,
disposed
off their rubbish
properly
,
started
accepting recycled material and
stopped
succumbing to consumerism,
then it would go a long way in solving the problem of environment.
Summing up,
individual
citizens cannot sit back and say it is someone else’s responsibility to protect the
environment; we
must
all play our part
–
individual
citizens and
governments
at the
national
and
international
level
.