In November 2022, Egypt will host the UN Climate Change Conference or
COP27. The following year the UAE will follow in hosting the important global
gathering. Both Arab hosts are not among the top CO2 emitters — which harm the
planet and our future — unlike China, the US, some EU countries, India, and
Russia. Nevertheless, these two Arab countries are setting a positive trend
that while we, as nations, are not amongst the major contributors to the
problem, we still must all be effective partners in the solution.
اضافة اعلان
The blame game must stop. As countries and
individuals, we must be led by the principle that we need to work with the
Earth, not against it. That is because, in the latter, we are the losers. And
while our generation may not feel this loss, we still have an obligation to our
grandchildren to leave them with a planet that is inhabitable and worthy of
living in.
As the two aforementioned countries, amongst others,
are taking climate change seriously and working globally to turn words into
actions, we, as a region, need to recognize two principles to set the record
straight and be effective actors in a mission vital for human survival.
To build a new energy system, all countries, especially the advanced industrial world, must increasingly contribute to every aspect of the remedy.
First, we must believe that all countries,
oil-producing or not, should contribute gradually but firmly to building a
future clean energy system. For the Arab region, this is a significant addition
to the world action plan simply because Arab countries, especially oil
producers, can invest in renewable and sustainable energy on a strategically
long-term basis, especially since we have the sun to our side almost
year-round.
However, we need to keep in mind that the transition
of energy policies needs time and effort. This is totally logical, and it was
clearly pointed out by UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology, CEO
of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and the country’s special envoy for climate
change, Sultan Al-Jaber, when he said, as quoted by The New York Times, “We
cannot and must not unplug the current energy system before we have built a new
one.”
To build a new energy system, all countries,
especially the advanced industrial world, must increasingly contribute to every
aspect of the remedy. This includes supplying poor nations with cleaner sources
of electricity, especially those where reliance is on harmful diesel-operated
electricity generators, which are used not because these nations want to
pollute the world but because they cannot afford better options.
Let us learn from the UAE, which “had provided over
$1 billion of renewable energy aid across 70 countries, as well as billions of
dollars for climate-linked humanitarian relief,” according to the office of the
special envoy for climate change in the UAE.
The second principle is to work toward engaging the
global population in the international fight against climate change, which
requires wise and proactive leadership and vision-based courses of action that
are immediate and inclusive, involving youth and women.
Success will be achieved only when the right message
is delivered to the average person. It will be achieved when the world
population is contemplating and responding to the hazards of climate change not
as a luxury exclusive to the elite, but as a common challenge that everyone
should rise to overcome.
The facts and figures are there, and they are
indisputable. The Glasgow Climate Pact, which rounded off the efforts exerted
at COP26 in 2021 in Scotland, is a sound framework to reinvigorate global
action. This drive for a solution should be infused with accountability and
incentivizing systems that we strongly hope will take their final shape during
the discussions in Sharm El-Sheikh this year and in the UAE the following year.
To sum it up, we need to remember what the famous
British broadcaster and natural historian and author David Attenborough said
once: “It’s surely our responsibility to do everything within our power to
create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on
Earth.”
To save the blue planet, we must be guided by
Attenborough as we fight on this make-or-break mission. We have no option but
to win, and the clock is ticking.
The
writer is a former advisor at the Royal Hashemite Court, a former director of
media and communication at the Office of His Majesty King Abdullah, and works
currently as a senior advisor for business development at Al-Ghad and Jordan
News.
Read more Opinion and Analysis
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
