Surviving the crisis

As the time for decisive action is rapidly depleting, global leaders at climate summits must urgently address the mounting environmental crisis by proposing innovative solutions

- SHOVANLAL CHAKRABORTY

A study has found that even if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions hit zero tomorrow, the climate chaos will cost at least USD 38 trillion a year by 2050. This staggering cost underscores the gravity and implications of climate change. This year is all set to become a landmark in succession to 2023 and 2022, which witnessed the Sustainable Development Goals Summit (last September in New York) and the Stockholm+50 Conference (in June 2022). The outcome of both these global conferences showed the gravity of the smouldering environmental crisis. This year, as mandated by a UN General Assembly resolution, the New York Summit of the Future will take place in September.

Humankind seems to have sleepwalked into a planetary crisis. Some heads of government have realised that "the decisions we make today are going to determine our future for decades to come" (as US President Joe Biden put it) as well as securing "a better future to the world and a better world to the future" (so said PM Narendra Modi). With time depleting rapidly, can we reverse this planetary crisis? The gathering storms provide indications of an environmental catastrophe. It is logical to pursue an ideational quest for "exploring the future pathways" for innovative and iconoclastic solutions. After the Summit of the Future, it would be appropriate for the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to hold an emergency special session to set in motion a normative process to nudge the 193 member states to gear up for global environmental challenges as a planetary concern.