Saturday Nov 23, 2024
Saturday Nov 23, 2024
Tuesday, 6 June 2017 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
US President Trump’s pulling out of ‘Paris Agreement’, is a short-sighted, selfish and senseless step. While even 1°C temperature rise is killing people and damaging economies now, it is proven that Climate Change is not a problem of the future and any country retracting will put millions of people in the way of danger.
In 2015 in Paris, 196 countries mutually committed to reducing their GHG emissions in order to secure the lives, health and economic prosperity of their people by respecting the natural limits of the planet. They agreed to limit warming to 1.5°C degrees and periodically enhance their emission reduction commitments by accelerating transition to renewable energy and decarbonizing their economies by the next half century. The Paris Agreement has already entered into force and 144 countries responsible for more than 80% of the global emissions have signed it at remarkable speed within only one year of its conception.
“The Paris Agreement stands for a bigger purpose than any one country’s vested interests and no country should threaten this global pact that aims to ensure the wellbeing of all people and the survival of all life-forms on this planet. Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement at a time when the world is already facing multiple massive climate-induced humanitarian and refugee crises, brings into question USA’s vision, leadership and commitment to all the international deals it signed onto, including security and trade, as the country is proving to be inconsistent and untrustworthy,” said Sanjay Vashist, Director, Climate Action Network South Asia, a coalition of over 160 NGOs of the region.
“It is a disappointing news for those who fought for years to reach a global deal but was on the cards over the last one year. This is like triggering a suicide bomb blast with the US deciding to pull out the pin. We must remind everybody that we share one atmosphere in our planet earth. No one has the right to pollute it and we all will pay the price. However, there is a brighter side as well. It’s not going to be the end. Most of the subnational governments, cities and business leaders are still in line with and supporting the Paris Agreement. Let’s appreciate and motivate those who are in USA with commitment towards ambitious climate actions. Let’s fight for climate justice with the reality. It’s not end of the world but a beginning of a new era of climate action,” said Janathakshan CEO Ranga Pallawala in Sri Lanka.
CANSA is a coalition of over 160 civil society organisations from seven countries of South Asia, demanding that all countries ratify the second commitment period of Kyoto protocol by 2015. CANSA is on a vision to strive actively towards the protection of the global climate in a manner that promotes equity and social justice between peoples, sustainable development of all communities, and protection of the global environment.
