Environmentalists vs Capitalists?

If I were the editor of Gobar Times, I would like to look beyond the popular notion that climate activists are not fond of people with a capitalist mindset. The environment as we know is not fragmented—it is one entity on Mother Earth. Developed and developing countries are always in opposition, blaming each other, instead of working together to achieve environmental goals. As an editor, I would want my readers to be aware of what is being done to solve the issues related to climate change.

Let us take India as an example. India aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2070, while it is 2050 for USA. This is despite all the negotiations by experts and leaders. Why can’t there be one date or one year for all countries? Are they not taking global warming seriously? Or is the economic burden of these countries so huge that they can’t afford to reduce their emissions at the moment? This brings us back to the thought that climate change activists may not be that fond of capitalists.

The answer to that lies in the simple fact that one cannot force people to change. Change is something that needs to be embraced by the people. When people do this and there is a cultural transformation, the climate crisis will get easily resolved. For instance, the term ‘Sustainable Development’ was coined in the year 1987 by the Brundtland Commission and it has been 35 years since. Yet, the majority of the businesses are still developing their Annual Reports on the basis of the economic-bottom-line approach, instead of the triple-bottom-line approach that focuses on social and environmental aspects as well.

The world now needs to come together to implement the solutions before it's too late. Ignoring global warming is morally criminal (if not legally so, yet). And yes, it is a collective goal and cannot be different for every country. If the developed nations have the wherewithal, then they must transfer money and technology for implementation of the same across the globe. Today, the world wants to know more about solutions than the problems. Or let’s just say we are tired of the problems and we millennials want quick results for historical mistakes.

The Earth is for everyone, and everyone must be for the Earth.