Speak for future generations: bound to suffer climate change

Global Warming became a threat and an international issue more than 30 years ago as it made headlines in the New York Times

Written By Halima Sadia

Global Warming became a threat and an international issue more than 30 years ago as it made headlines in the New York Times and other leading newspapers when Dr. James Hansen, the then director of NASA’s Institute for Space Studies, used it in his landmark testimony in front of the US Senate. It has been more than three decades since the world became aware of climate change as a threat. Yet it has been getting worse since then. With the Doomsday Clock set only 100 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to the man-made global catastrophe, the planet is nearing its tipping point.

The Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN General Assembly in 2015 is a set of interrelated goals to be achieved by 2030, aimed at achieving sustainable future. Running counter to these goals, the indicators of climate deterioration have been rising globally. The fossil fuel production has been increasing; about 86% of the primary global fuel comes from fossil fuel. The annual production of plastic has increased to 381 million tons. Moreover, 36 billion tons of CO2 is emitted every year. During a high-level meeting held by the United Nations on Sustainable Development, speakers said that only a decade is left from preventing climate change to become irreversible.

No doubt, Climate Change is THE most deadly threat faced by the whole world. Although the effects of climate change are becoming prominently visible with each passing day, the future will be much gloomier. And who will pay the price? It’s the future generation. They will have face the catastrophic consequences at a time when it will be too late. Hence, the present generation has a moral obligation to control climate change. It is an obligation guided by the principles of justice for the future generations.

Talking about this justice, , the young climate change activist, Greta Thunberg, addressed the world leaders in her maiden speech at UN Climate Change Summit held in September 2019, “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you! …, you are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.”

The emotional speech delivered by the Swedish activist has a deep message. It confronts the powerful world leaders who are capable of taking action but they choose not to, as they are too caught up in game of power, money and politics. 

Halima Sadia is a curious, young writer with the passion to spread kindness and peace through her work