Weird weather is prompting further discussion about climate change. Russia’s record-breaking and long running heat wave, Pakistan’s terrible floods, and now more floods in Niger have again focused attention on the question as to whether humankind is adversely impacting our weather.
I’ve been involved in the issue of climate change ever since I started working for Greenpeace International in the mid-nineties and am convinced that we are producing so-called Greenhouse Gas Emissions that are compromising the future of our planet. In spite of some doubts, by far the bulk of scientific opinion clearly states that we have to wean ourselves off fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) and find sustainable energy solutions.It is as frustrating for me to see our politicians continue to struggle to achieve an international agreement on reducing GHGs as it must be confusing for the less imitated who must wonder why it taking so long. I attended the United Nations climate summit in Kyoto, japan in 1997 where the first treaty was agreed. Since then, in spite of many summits, no agreement has been reached to extend and advance the contents of the treaty when the original one expires next year.
I am an optimist at heart, and am convinced that there will eventually be the political will to take the necessary steps to avert irreversible trend that will damage our climate system beyond repair. I am sure that you will look back at this moment in history and find it difficult to understand what the debate was all about.
It is only a matter of time before everyone is convinced that sustainable energy technology will eliminate our use of oil and coal. No doubt you will find it strange that we sent men down pits to dig for coal and drilled deep to extract oil from beneath the earth’s surface.
I’ve long supported the argument that we have a responsibility to pass along our planet in a healthy condition to our grandchildren. Now that you are a reality, and I have a wonderful grandchild of my own, my eagerness to wake everyone up to the dangers of climate change and our urgent need to act has been significantly heightened.
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague Czech Republic
