The advocacy by the Holy See for proper mitigation of global warming is laudable. It is important to note that Pope Francis realises the importance of the environment and reiterates that it is a fundamental good that mankind is not authorised to abuse and destroy.
Interesting is the fact that Pope Francis took his campaign to the heart of New York City in the US, which is the second largest country in emission of carbon dioxide - the main contributor to global warming.
Despite the US being one of the main contributors to global warming by virtue of its large emissions of green house gases, it has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol. This protocol, which came into force in 2005, was pegged on a framework that pledged to stabilise greenhouse-gas concentrations “at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”.
The importance of signing the treaty cannot be over-emphasised as it aims at ensuring less emissions through proper mitigation by the member countries.
Even though developing countries contribute less as compared to the developed countries in terms of emission, they all bear equal brunt as far as global warming is concerned. It is projected that the rise in temperature will cost the African continent 10 per cent of its GDP in a span of 85 years when the temperature is estimated to have increased by 4.1 degrees celsius as per the estimates of the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep).
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Economically, UNEP asserts that the costs of adaptation in the least developed countries alone will rise to $50 billion per year by 2030, with a total of around $150 billion per year in all developing countries.
There is need to have low-carbon energy systems that ensure less or non-carbon emissions to the atmosphere globally. This forms the first action that needs to be embraced by developed countries and which should be emulated by the developing countries.
This would help us to contribute to the sustainability of our environment as is the clarion call of the pope.
