My New Year Wish

I know it is too early but I am very certain this is what I am looking forward to. It is a wish toward resolving a contentious issue that affects global community, but so far not all countries are willing to commit to collective action. Just imagine everyone is so eager to grab the best piece of pie but unwilling to clean up the mess later. This is exactly the scenario that we are in when it comes to exploiting natural resources but unwilling to commit to environmental preservation.

Without a doubt, global warming has been attributed to the rising carbon emission level and there are already numerous scientific reports to highlight the potentially grave consequences if we choose to delay action. But does it warrant enough attention for all countries to act compellingly? Obviously, no. So far, economic incentives reign supreme, environmental perspectives of globalization can be overlooked. So what we have is precariously unsustainable development, more so for natural resource-dependent countries. Meanwhile, international enforcement to reduce emission is so weak and expecting only voluntary participation from the biggest polluters around the world.

So do I wish that all countries will miraculously realize the grave mistakes they are making and start taking substantial action? Alas, we have tried with endless coaxing and warning but they simply did not work. I trust a more neutral party to initiate and trigger an action plan than countries which narrowly represent industrial interests for economic growth. No doubt collective action will be required from all countries contributing to environmental crisis, but we need stronger basis and evidence to trigger effective mass reaction.

So my wish…

It is a plea to the scientific community in striving harder to establish objective and irrefutable causal links between occurrences of natural disasters and rising carbon emission. Yes, that would include fatal floods, hurricanes, droughts and earthquakes that shake the survival of mankind. Merely showing the link to common environmental degradation issues is no longer sufficient, because we can still tolerate that albeit shockingly so. Indeed this is an enormously difficult task but a truly worthy goal. And most significantly, it will directly implicate and tie preservation responsibilities to all polluters in the world. For mankind has always been selfish in nature, if our survival is not proven to be under threat, then we will delay action or worst still, take no action at all.

Why would it be hard to practice sustainable development? The answer will reveal that we are craving for compromising fast-track development and overprotective policies of our energy-inefficient industries. A sudden reduction in energy usage or a gradual move toward cleaner energy alternatives imposes economic cost, mostly in the form of productivity decline and revenue loss. Expansive R&D effort in alternative energy is still too early to promise viable commercial values comparable to when using cheap coal and fossil fuel. We are further plagued by inaction from governments in developing policies and providing incentives to compel industries to adopt cleaner energy, for fear of eroding short term economic interests and competitiveness. Well, it is cynical that governments do have the means to drill more oil or provide more unrealistic oil subsidy to maintain high demand.

So there we have the most important parties with the greatest capacities to make a difference in environmental issues will only do that much. It explains why we need stronger neutral and international bodies to push for more action. Developed countries are guilty but so are developing countries which constantly put up the excuses that environmental issues are largely caused by excessive growth of developed countries in the past. It is true only to a limited extent, because emission rate from developing countries has been spurred by their exponential economic growth and it would not take long for them to be among the biggest polluters in the world.

The point is the future is at stake, environmental crisis is a global phenomenon and requiring nothing less than collective effort for the common good. It respects no borders either, so cumulative action of polluters will be felt worldwide. Be they developed or developing countries, none will be immune from the negative impact. We own it to the future generation, to preserve the natural resources and the environment that we are endowed with. So here I lay my wish.