eResearch> | The world, by and large, has been captivated by the 16-year-old Swedish climate-change activist, Greta Thunberg. She grabbed world headlines when she sailed, not solo, but in limited company, across the Atlantic Ocean a few months ago to come to North America to spread her word about the dire strait of the world owing to the inability of world leaders to take climate change seriously or, if any did, to actually do anything about it.
The elderly usually ridicule the young for their revolutionary ways but here, at least, it is absolutely refreshing to know that it is the world’s youth that are galvanizing public opinion to improve the world order from a debilitating climate perspective.
A November 29 Project Syndicate article, reviewed here, was co-authored by Ms. Thunberg and two other climate-change activists. In the article, the Authors bemoan the ineffective world response to our changing climate, other than lip service, in the face of grim scientific projections.
The Authors lament the numerous climate conferences punctuated with countless discussions and negotiations that have led to much hype but, ultimately, almost zero commitments from world governments. The Authors demand positive action.
The Authors’ viewpoints are amply laid out in the article and, although there is little new because the arguments have been well reported in the media for some time, the necessity to draw attention to the problem again and again is paramount because, to date, little has been done to address this urgent problem.
It would have been beneficial to have had the Authors admit that fossil fuels will be with us for decades to come and that to simply lambast the oil and gas producers and the coal companies time and time again is not particularly productive. The world is increasingly recognizing that the fossil fuel industry is under increasing attack and that the trend to renewable energy is a coming thing, but it is unrealistic to believe that fossil fuels can be totally replaced in the near future. A phase-out over the next few decades is realistic but not before 2030, as many protagonists call for.
So, Ms. Thunberg and friends will take to the streets again in an effort to draw greater attention and acknowledgement of the pressing climate-change problem. They intend to be active at the United Nations climate change conference to be held in Madrid, December 2-13.
The activists’ message to the leaders that are attending the Madrid conference is that the world will be watching closely and that they had better act accordingly.
You can read the entire article here: Thunberg et al
