Governmental obligation to protect our planet

Cheung
Meridian Junior College
Singapore

Once upon a time, our planet was rich in biodiversity and its climatic conditions were more predictable and less turbulent. At the moment, there seems to be no fairy tale ending but many dire predictions. Mother Earth cannot recover to her former self, as human activities have devastated the environment, resulting in less pleasant living conditions for all living things. Two key problems have been identified: the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the continuous destruction of natural habitats. These problems have led to global warming and mass extinctions. This essay explores and evaluates plausible solutions to rectify these problems.

It must be emphasised that these solutions require willpower on the part of the global community and the state, as well as the individual. This essay does not focus on individual or business efforts, as these can be easily sourced. Obstacles can arise due to political, economic and national interests.

Frequently, there are sceptics regarding international or regional green movements. The Kyoto Protocol, though ratified, has no participation from the United States or Australia. However, there is one strong positive in the international or regional green movement. The mass media usually provides coverage and this further raises consciousness, which has the potential to provoke further action. For example, in the recent World Economic Forum, the world, or at least, the important participants, realised that economic development must be put in the context of protecting our planet. Tony Blair attempted to push forward post-Kyoto Protocol benchmarks. While international negotiations are sometimes hindered by national interests, the raising of consciousness can stir individual countries and business interests to be more environmentally conscious and possibly provoke them into action.

At the state level, governments must take a much more active role. In a recent discussion on 'Make Green Pay' hosted by CNBC in the World Economic Forum, the majority of participants were not in agreement with the motion that, 'markets are superior to regulation in leading corporations towards greener operations'. The green movement has made good progress in Europe, because it has been a key player in the national governments (as well as the European Union). Iceland, for example, has promised to be the world's hydrogen economy, cutting greenhouse emissions to zero in the next 30 years.

At the same time, research and development must be done to find ways to store or convert carbon dioxide. Industries can try to remove carbon dioxide from their processes and channel carbon dioxide into useful applications, such as the production of construction materials, solvents and in wastewater treatment. This way, the emission levels of carbon dioxide is minimised but further research and development is needed to boost their efficiency so that sustainable development is achieved.

Governments around the world can initiate policies that reward companies that voluntarily reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases, so as to encourage them to continue taking the correct measures to tackle global warming. This would be in addition to setting emission targets for the future as standards for all companies to aim for. Alternatively, carbon taxes can be imposed on companies to regulate the amount of carbon dioxide produced. The carbon dioxide production level would be proportionate to the cost of the carbon tax.

Although feasible, this solution is not popular among developing countries simply because it will hinder their development. This is most unfortunate because even if the government that has the most influence and importance in a country does not have the initiative to protect the environment, the people of the country are, most likely, going to follow suit. This reinforces the point that the mindset and will of the national government is crucial in protecting Mother Earth.

Another solution is using nature's ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is based on the concept that trees act as carbon-sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and giving out oxygen. Cultivating new forests can contribute to cleaner air and can be implemented on a large scale, even though it may take some time for the trees to grow. To improve the effectiveness of this solution, the government has to monitor the logging industry and determine that there is no excessive deforestation, so that more trees can remain in the environment and soak up carbon dioxide. Hence, the extent of the release of carbon dioxide by many industries can be lessened with more trees absorbing the greenhouse gas.

Another government initiative is to develop a long-term solution to keep on improving energy efficiency for our use. The introduction of new and advanced technologies in power generation, such as gas turbines and fuel cells, is becoming more common and they are the key to sustainable development. This will be especially so in the near future, when even more superior technologies will be developed. However, to come up with such advanced technologies requires time for research and development and time can be a serious constraint.

Alternative and reliable energy sources have made some progress. The most promising in the short term is biomass which, by the year 2020, could produce a third of the global energy. As biomass grows, it absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the carbon dioxide is only released when burnt. Thus, there is no net increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. The most promising in the long term is solar energy, while wind power can take the position of the best intermediate source. However, these energy sources are geographically determined and many countries do not have access to such natural sources.

Nuclear power is a powerful means to produce energy without the risk of carbon dioxide being generated but it may be too risky if abused and its safety is always a question mark. As for a hydrogen-driven economy, although it is also possible to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, which can be used as fuel, high amounts of energy are needed in the first place.

It should be noted that there are some instances of cities, federal states or organisations taking the initiative. This is the result of mass media coverage and green movement activism. This is the case in the United States. By August 2005, 177 city mayors in the US signed the mayor of Seattle's Climate Protection Agreement, holding them to adhere to meet or exceed Kyoto Protocol targets. Arguably, the federal or local initiatives have influenced President George W. Bush's State of the Union address, in a bid to recover his very low popularity ranking.

The second part of the essay addresses the problem of the destruction of natural habitats by human activities. Many of the demands of development are for more land for agriculture and the rearing of livestock and the emphasis on conservation is missing. Since the land cleared is always forest, this causes a lot of animals to lose their natural habitats. This is, however, nothing compared to what poachers have done to contribute towards extinction of many animals. Numerous animals are hunted for their horns, skin, or teeth. There are indeed people in poor countries that depend on hunting endangered animals for a living, usually because they have no other choice in order to survive. Therefore, I believe that if we give aid to those in poor countries and deploy conservation programs to educate the people to balance economic activity and environmental protection, they can still make a decent living. In David Attenborough's State of the Planet (2001), native peoples in developing parts of the world have succeeded in protecting their local species, like butterflies and seahorses, while trading them as ornaments or medicine.

However, it is part of human history that national interests prevail over an international agenda. Providing aid to developing countries has always been an issue, and in the recent World Economic Summit, there were criticisms that Africa was not the top item on the agenda. War-torn Sudan was not even considered, despite its situation being comparable to that of Iraq.

At the governmental level, countries must have the political will to implement comprehensive laws to protect endangered species and perhaps to creating more space for species survival. Only when there are concrete efforts taken to conserve our planet's inhabitants, the benefits of doing so can then be tangible in the form of a rich biodiversity that we can proudly pass on to future generations.

There must be a change in the mindset of the current generation in order to prevent extinctions of animals and plants from occurring. Nowadays, many of us would not even bother about what animals and plants are considered endangered, so I think that our values have to undergo a revamp for us to consider that we are not the only organisms living on Earth.

In conclusion, we should all do our part to save the environment, but sadly not all of us are willing participants. Country singer John Denver once said, 'No one person has to do it all but if each one of us follows our heart and our own inclinations, we will find the small things that we can do to create a sustainable future and a healthy environment'. In order to reshape our planet's future, there must be compromises and sacrifices made in terms of development. However, one thing is for certain. We need to be flexible and adaptable to change our lifestyle, for the sake of Gaia.

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