By Santhosh Shyamsundar
As we say good bye to George W Bush’s eight years of pig-headed attitude towards climate change and environment (amongst other things of global relevance), would we have to suffer four more ‘appalling’ years? Neither of the major US presidential candidates has a better record than Bush when it comes to fighting global warming.
In May 1998, the Illinois State’s coal industry lobbied hard to ensure that the state legislature passed a bill condemning the Kyoto treaty – blocking state efforts to control emissions of greenhouse gases. An Illinois state senator named Barack Obama was among those who voted ‘AYE!’
In January 2007, Obama sponsored a bill in the Federal Senate to hand out USD8 billion in subsidies to a technology to convert coal to liquid fuel. According to the Sierra Club, liquid coal releases almost double the global warming emissions per litre as regular gasoline.
In the US Senate, John McCain was one of the 95 Senators who voted against the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. In May this year, the Department of Interior listed the polar bear as an endangered species due to global warming. This action meant the habitat of the polar bears has to be protected — throwing a spanner into the plans of those wanting to drill in Alaska’s coastal waters. The Governor of Alaska immediately sued the Federal Government. Governor Sarah Palin is now McCain’s vice-presidential running mate.
Joe Biden dropped out of the 1988 Democratic race for president because of his shameless plagiarism of a speech by British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. Twenty years later, Obama picks Biden as his running mate. Ironically, Biden has the best environmental record of the four, without calling for the closure of a single Welsh coal mine.
We can’t wish America away, even if we don’t see hope in those four people, two of whom will soon be the leaders of the most powerful nation on this planet. The US still remains the largest economy in the world. Recent trends in the global markets vis-à-vis the upheaval in the US markets – reinforce the old adage “When the Wall Street sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.”
There was a worrying bit of information in the news recently; in the thirty-one day period from August 7 to September 7, 2008, the UAE stock markets recorded a loss of AED54.54 billion. These gigantic losses could slow down the ‘green movement’ in the UAE and the whole region. When the general perception is that clean environment comes at a higher cost, any slowdown in the market would adversely affect the investments into sustainable projects and products.
Sustainability is all about living within our means. Sustainability is natural, it doesn’t have speculative qualities and even more cannot be traded in the futures market – the rice which might be harvested six months from now, cannot be consumed today!
Sustainability is our only hope and the only path for survival. In other words, the time is ripe for a green revolution. Sustainable development also encourages and motivates increased social responsibility and creating a better environment. Sustainable development is the only means to recreate a natural ecosystem, which balances life on earth.
The leadership of Dubai and Abu Dhabi have identified and prioritised sustainable development – green building requirements and estidama are all steps in the right direction. That said, the general lackadaisical approach towards sustainable development has to change in the region. We need business and government leaders ready to make a strong commitment to the simple principles of sustainability.
There is no silver bullet to enforce sustainability, neither can it be bought off the shelf or imposed on people as a regulation. A sound sustainable development is like a giant tree – it needs time and the right conditions to achieve the growth. No amount of regulation is going to make it rain in the desert.
Unlike the US politicians, the leadership of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are great role models; they don’t indulge in unnecessary public relations spin. Earthwitness salutes the UAE leadership for being at the forefront of this green revolution. We all have to accept that this is going to be a long journey of learning, discovering, sharing ideas and values of sustainability.
Ramadan Kareem!
