Knock on doors, contribute funds to deliver climate change targets

The widespread use of fossil fuels is responsible for the climate change that is threatening the earth and its inhabitants, or is it? But it is human inaction, even with all the information at our disposal, that threatens to decimate us. 

Virtually every industry is dependent on fossil fuels — from extraction of raw materials to manufacturing, building and construction, tourism and travel. There are also motor vehicles and aeroplanes. 

The statistics are staggering. An Airbus, information on the company’s website says, takes off or lands every 1.2 seconds. The industries emit mind-boggling quantities of greenhouse gases into the environment.

The Paris Climate Agreement, the legally binding international treaty on climate change, set out in 2015 to limit the global temperature increase this century to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and limit the increase further to 1.5°C. So how this target can be achieved while also keeping the economies, especially of developing economies, on a sustainable growth path?

One of the oft-talked-about strategies is reduction of the carbon footprint, which puts the individual at the centre of the efforts to stem the wave of climate change. You may have heard of the call to consumers to cut waste or to cycle instead of driving or to switch off energy that is not needed or to change the lightbulbs in homes and offices from the ‘inefficient’ to energy-saving ones. 

But how many consumers know whether their lightbulbs are energy-saving? How many Kenyans can afford such energy-saving lightbulbs even if they were available locally? And, even if some consumers were to replace their lightbulbs, where will they get replacement when the current bulbs wear out?

On the other extreme, there have been calls to consumers to exercise their power by flying less or boycotting certain brands deemed to have a high carbon footprint. The only people who are able to exercise such powers are those who actually have choices — and they aren’t many in developing economies.

Greenhouse gases

Individual action as a strategy to combat climate change may sound romantic, and even have some financial and environmental benefits, but they are not enough to reverse what most scientists now agree is imminent danger of climate change. What is needed are systemic changes at the national or even intergovernmental level. For instance, there should be a policy that makes energy-saving lightbulbs accessible and affordable.

Individual action, even in the United States, which has the highest per capita emissions rate of greenhouse gases, is important but limited. This point is buoyed by the reality that humans, especially those who have access to finance, tend towards self-reliance rather than bother with communal action.

Actions such as foregoing a car, limiting the number of children per family or embracing a plant-based diet can only be encouraged but are difficult to enforce. The government can make public transport clean, affordable, safe, efficient and reliable but it cannot stop individuals who prefer to get around in their motor vehicles from doing so. 

The other spectrum of individual responsibility that can deliver strong and visible results is collective action. Individuals can choose to become more active in political conversations and vote only candidates that stand for a progressive environmental agenda. In fact, they can do more than voting. They can contribute finances and knock on doors to ensure that progressive candidates win electoral contests. Once these leaders are in office, they can, individually or through action groups, hold them accountable. 

The citizens can make telephone calls or write letters to their representatives. Awareness events like walks, running in the wild or caravans through cities can force companies to rethink their climate change policies and elected leaders pass progressive laws.

Other actions include protests such as those staged by Nobel Laureate Prof Wangari Maathai. Her well-publicized protests saved two key national treasures: Uhuru Park and Karura Forest. The use of art, akin to what activist Boniface Mwangi did with pigs outside Parliament, has also proved efficacious.

Ms Muriithi is a communications specialist based in Australia. [email protected]