Climate Action-Our Planet Needs a More Sincere Strategy

In this article, Ram Ramprasad says international agencies in the world should come together as an interdisciplinary team and communicate to the citizens of every country in easy-to-understand terms the health of our planet including the health of every country as it relates to their soil, water, and air. Transforming worldwide education to teach true climate science and sustainability concepts including the development of body, mind, and soul will be key to our success. In the meanwhile, leveraging social media will need to be explored.

- Ram Ramprasad

As climate actions proceed at a snail’s pace, the world still seems to be nonchalant on meeting the required emission targets based upon stated guidelines. One is often bereft of the knowledge or actions one needs to take. Humans are oblivious of the Living Planet Report published by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) or even the Living Planet Index published by the Zoological Society based in England, to name just a few. These reports are enlightening on the health of our planet. We communicate grand GDP statistics, but fail to communicate that ecosystem services such as bees pollinating our flowers, microbes helping our soil and plants, fish and microbes helping our oceans, etc., produce a GDP that is 1.5 times greater than the world GDP. If we did price greenhouse gas emissions, and accounted for the colossal loss of biodiversity on our planet, we would end up with a negative GDP. For this reason, for decades we never felt compelled to communicate the ‘real GDP’ to the masses. Unless people are conversant with the health of the planet, they will not hold their leaders accountable. Leaders listen only to the priorities of the people since votes matter. We need leaders who can craft a sincere vision where ecology and a clean economy can go hand in hand. This is possible if we make a determined effort to climb down the ladder of linear economics and simultaneously climb up the ladder of circular economics at a much faster pace.