While the world recovers from a pandemic, it is pushed into the shadow of a nuclear holocaust by a renewed cold war. I believe an act of aggression against any population is uncalled for, despicable, and inhumane, and for that, the aggressor must face the necessary judgment in its time. However, from neutral ground, we cannot ignore the tumbling of stones that led to this avalanche. Let me put on a pedestal, the self-proclaimed leaders, nay, tyrants of the free world. One cannot ignore the actions of NATO that instigated this conflict by doing what they usually do - they motivated a country to give up nuclear weapons with a promise of security, they tried to poke a sleeping bear which was sidelined on the global stage by granting several other bordering countries the option to join them, and finally, when the inevitable did happen, they could not keep their promise knowing too well, that any escalation of this will lead to the eradication of the human race. This is merely the tip of the iceberg. Historically, this group has a reputation to topple governments, both democratic and monarchies alike, justifying the action as necessary means to save the people while displacing them and, they turn a blind eye to genocides and let it pass with barely a UN vote of condemnation - all for their self-interest. The worst part of it, the international community barely reacts to these actions in magnitude compared to the way they are reacting to the invasion of Ukraine. Is it because they are Caucasians, and by that fact, better than someone in middle-east, or perhaps Africa? Is it because they are seemingly more civilized than people of other continents because they are in Europe - the lair of the imperialists?
That aside, we are not discussing geopolitics in this post. We are discussing climate change, the mightiest of the problem that we face. Perhaps this is the way to go - burn the whole world in one final inferno and save us from the plight of watching our children suffocate. I usually like to discuss solutions, however, on this occasion, I will rant. So, if you are intolerant about someone criticizing your regimes - ones that you voted or treat as deities, you may stop reading now.
In the last decade, we have seen the West believe in one idea - the responsibility of fixing the effects of climate change is not upon them, the rest of the world must change its ways to solve this crisis even if it is not feasible for their population. Let us not forget here that the rest of the world is still trying to recover from the colonial pillaging that was rampant for centuries, especially during the industrial revolution. They were exploited, maimed, and then left with industries that cannot upgrade to meet the global standards, which were set by the same colonialists. The present-day aristocracy of the West is symbolic of the loot and despair of the people of Asia and Africa. Yet, the expectations are that all the countries be equal shareholders in mitigating this crisis. Why should an Asian or an African forgo the pleasures of living in the same conditions as her European or American counterparts? Why should they lead a life of misery and poverty, giving up their progress so that the world may be safer? What do they owe to the rest of the world? Why should they invest in clean energy - which in the current scenario is the least cost-efficient method? Can the multi-national petrochemical giants of the US and Europe give up on their own greed to research and promote bio-fuels? Can they stop the incessant lobbying that has put a pause on several clean energy projects and delayed them by decades?
The trend does not stop there. It goes deeper into several MNCs trying to send their employees in the developing world on a guilt trip to make them believe that they are the cause of climate change. Let me point out here that no amount of individual contribution to climate action will ever be enough. Let me take the shining example of the Montreal Protocol - perhaps the only successful global action on climate change. The reason for the success of the accords was the top-down approach and the availability of alternatives to CFC. The agreement of all governments to eventually reduce CFC usage and make the manufacturers of the consumer products responsible for the change was paramount in the recovery of the Ozone that we witness today. Agreed, it has led to the usage of HFCs which are contributing to the greenhouse effect, but we did solve one crisis. It is this top-down approach that is truly needed to mitigate the crisis at hand.
Let us not forget that the industries in India, China, and other parts of Asia that are on the receiving end of criticism for climate change are producing the materials required to build the products of American and European brands. These brands regularly try to find havens for labor and environmental laws to set up their shop. The West shares a greater responsibility in ensuring their own MNCs are following the laws ratified globally instead of pinning the blame on helpless governments who are trying to feed their population. They are equally and even more responsible for sharing clean energy technology and contributing to nuclear energy research for safe reactors in India and China. The people of the rest of the world are also humans and are in no way less civilized, enslaved, or inferior to the West. They were born into a situation they cannot easily escape, and most of these situations can be credited to the greed of the West.
This planet has all the resources to undo what has been done, we can use them to fulfill our needs, but we cannot let greed take its course, and send us into an abyss. We are in this game together, and all the pieces on the board are grey.
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