With global warming reaching a tipping point, a rethink of the profit-driven economy has become necessary. Global climate change is causing immense and irrevocable harm to both people and nature. It is due to opposition from profit-seeking lobbyists that the recently concluded climate meet failed to take concrete measures against countries largely responsible for climate change. The resolution adopted at the end of the said climate meet did not offer anything new to the world. Instead, it merely reiterated its resolve to solve the problem. Thus, the resolution is being termed by many as a please-all effort, as it is devoid of any meaningful direction towards averting the climate threat. Clearly, the policies should be redrawn to compel the offenders to contribute adequately to the climate fund, aimed at helping nations shift from fossil fuel to green energy. It’s a pity that despite there being several rounds of talks in this regard, the fund is still a non-starter as a many countries are not yet committed to the cause. The situation should be changed immediately, else the future of the planet appears very bleak.
The emergence of the pro-fossil fuel lobby, which is largely responsible for preventing the climate meet from adopting a hard hitting resolution, is quite strange. Despite the presence of the said lobby for quite some time, not many took it seriously as they thought it not powerful enough to silence the global voice demanding for clean and green energy. Quite strangely, when it appeared that pro-changers would clinch the issue, the fossil fuel lobby started fiercely opposing the move. At the end of the meeting, it became quite clear that the lobby had managed to delay any sanction on the use of fossil fuel, at least for the time being. Under the circumstances, some believe that it was presumably necessary to pass a unanimous resolution to keep the negotiation process going on, rather than taking the pro-fossil fuel lobby head on. But the people holding such views failed to explain how a toothless resolution will save the planet from the impending danger, especially when the world has already started to witness clear evidence of climate change.
There is no denying that changing from fossil fuel to green energy will negate all investments made in the energy sector so far. At the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that the world is on the brink of a catastrophe due to global warming. It is truly difficult to strike a balance between the two, while one side is looking for adequate returns from their investments, the other is pleading for new investments to protect the natural environment. Perhaps the best way to solve the impasse is to introduce energy tax on nations, industries and other stakeholders for harming nature and the revenue generated from it can be used to bring the necessary changes required to save the planet, as it is now amply clear that developed nations will not voluntarily contribute to the climate fund to resolve the climate conundrum.
