Instead of leading the battle against global warming from the front, as assured earlier to considerably reduce the greenhouse gases emission, developed nations like the United States of America (US), Russia, England and the member countries of the European Union (EU) are actually sabotaging it, as per reports. The US, which had earlier promised to reduce carbon emission by 50 per cent by 2030, will be able to achieve only 22 per cent of its target, according to the report, while Russia will be able to achieve only 48 per cent against the target of 70 per cent. The European nations are also expected to fall short of the set target by at least by 10 per cent. This certainly is not the way the pressing challenge should be tackled. Meanwhile, reports said that among all the nations, only Japan and Kazakhstan may keep their commitments, a feat all other countries should emulate, if they are really sincere in saving this beautiful planet.
Currently, the developed countries are responsible for three-fourth of the global carbon emission. So, the fight against global warming and climate change will be futile if these nations do not practice what they preach. Ironically, the developed countries have the habit of blaming the developing nations for the deteriorating situation, even when its effort of reducing the carbon emission is far from satisfactory. For instance, India has been singled out by many of these nations for using fossil fuel as energy, while the per capita energy consumption in the country is much lesser than the per capita consumption of the developed nations. Such attitude will not help curb the crisis; it is amply clear that arm-twisting tactics will only lead to destruction.
It is time for the developed nations to realize that they will not escape the wrath of nature by blaming the developing and poor nations. Every human being will face the same consequences. It is also disappointing that when the need of the hour is to reduce greenhouse gas emission, the countries that are largely responsible for releasing maximum amount of toxic gasses into the atmosphere, are trying to play the role of global guardians. These countries should be told in no uncertain terms in the forthcoming meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP), organized under the aegis of the United Nations (UN), to take all the necessary steps to fulfil their promises and stop baffling the world by promising zero emission by 2050, a target which is clearly unrealistic. Rather, they should concentrate on reducing emission, so that the global temperature, which is expected to rise by 1.8 to 4 degrees at the present emission rate, is kept under control. It’s time to act instead of lecturing the developing nations on what to do and what not to do. Double standards won’t help anybody.
