Focus
On Carbon 'Missing The Point'
By Eamon O'Hara
10 August, 2007
BBC
Focusing on the need to reduce
CO2 emissions has reduced the problem to one of carbon dioxide rather
than on the unsustainable ways we live. Is it not time to recognise
that climate change is yet another symptom of our unsustainable lifestyles,
which must now become the focus our efforts?
Yet governments, and those
organisations who have now assumed the role of combating climate change,
subscribe to the notion that climate change is our central problem and
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is the cause of this problem.
Undeniably, climate change
is a serious problem but it is only one of a growing list of problems
that arise from a fundamental global issue.
For many decades, the symptoms
of unsustainable human exploitation of the natural environment have
been mounting: species extinction, the loss of biodiversity, air and
water pollution, soil erosion, acid rain, destruction of rainforests,
ozone depletion - the list goes on.
Common cause
These problems all clearly
have a common origin, yet the search for solutions has invariably focused
on targeted treatments rather than addressing the root cause.
Success has, at best, been
patchy. In general, none of these problems have completely disappeared
and many have continued to worsen.
Renewable resources might provide a safer alternative to oil and gas
and other finite resources, but it will not remove our energy and resource
dependency
Global warming - the latest
in this list of environmental woes - is a particularly worrying development,
not only because it is potentially catastrophic, but because it is going
to be incredibly difficult to control.
The solutions currently being
put forward, such as those being championed by the European Union, focus
almost exclusively on reducing carbon emissions.
However, by focusing on the
need to reduce CO2 emissions has reduced the problem to one of carbon
dioxide rather than on the unsustainable ways we live our lives.
This oversight has led to
the assumption that if we reduce emissions then our problems are solved,
hence the focus on carbon sequestration, renewable energies and environmental
technologies.
This approach to curing our
problems is a bit like relying on methadone to cure an addiction to
heroin.
The large-scale transition
to renewable resources might provide a safer alternative to oil and
gas and other finite resources, but it will not remove our energy and
resource dependency, which will continue to expand in line with economic
growth.
Before long, we will discover
that even renewables have their limits. We are already being warned
about the dangers of excessive demand for biofuels, which is reportedly
leading to the clearing of rainforests and increasing competition for
land between food and energy production.
The world simply does not have the resources, renewable or otherwise,
to sustain Western lifestyles across the globe
Ultimately, our problem is
consumption, and the environment is not the only casualty.
The modern Western lifestyle
also has an inbuilt dependency on the cheap resources and the low carbon
footprint of developing countries, which has compounded global injustice.
Worse still, maintaining
our relatively wealthy, comfortable and unsustainable lifestyles is
now dependant on maintaining this imbalance.
Seventy-five percent of the
world's population - more than 4.5bn people - live on just 15% of the
world's resources, while we in the West gorge on the remaining 85%.
The world simply does not
have the resources, renewable or otherwise, to sustain Western lifestyles
across the globe.
Change of direction
So, what can we do? Obviously,
the first thing we need to do is act, and act fast.
Every day we wait, another
30,000 children needlessly die; between 100-150 plant and animal species
become extinct; 70,000 hectares of rainforest is destroyed and another
150m tonnes of CO2 is released into the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, another $3.0bn
(£1.5bn) is spent on arms and weapons of mass destruction.
We urgently need to think
about the more fundamental concept of sustainability and how our lifestyles
are threatening not only the environment, but developing countries and
global peace and stability.
In my view, we need to embrace
this as an opportunity and not see it as a responsibility. Living a
more sustainable lifestyle does not have to be a burden, as some people
fear.
It could be a liberating
and rewarding experience to participate in creating a better world.
After all, how good do we really have it at the moment?
How many people are tired
and weary of modern living? The endless cycle of earning and consumption
can be exhausting and does not necessarily bring happiness and fulfillment.
Can we do things differently, and better?
If we don't, then we are
heading for certain disaster, regardless of whether or not we manage
to reduce our emissions.
Eamon O'Hara is a Brussels-based policy adviser for
the Irish Regions Office, which represents Irish interests in the European
Union
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