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
.