Barely two weeks after the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) visited KwaZulu-Natal to engage communities on climate change and the just transition, the province was hit with the worst floods we have ever seen. No longer merely environmental activist rhetoric, the floods are just more evidence that climate change is real and has devastating impacts, especially for marginalised communities. As a country, we witnessed the loss and destruction. We must recognise that Mother Earth’s health is failing because of human activity, and it is high time that we comply with the global ‘dietary’ standards (as prescribed by climate science) to reduce carbon emissions.
We can no longer deny the science, climate change causes extreme weather events, such as flooding from uncharacteristic heavy rains. According to the UN’s IPCC Report, “increased heatwaves, droughts and floods are already exceeding plant and animal tolerance thresholds, driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals.” Just as “we are what we eat”, we are responsible for the appalling state of our Earth and the devastating impacts of climate change, as we are the ones guilty of poisoning her. Still, we continue to find more ways to pollute her system. As we advance in technology, we have become even more focused on profit-making, often forgetting who we are and where we come from. We have forgotten to respect our source of life.
Since the advent of industries, we have been on a bullet train of destruction, all in the name of development and advancement of the human race. To me, this is a fallacy, since it is greed that continues to push many to keep searching for ways to amass wealth. To feed the beast of our insatiable desires. There are many among us who behave like spoiled brats, constantly taking but putting back very little into restoring the Earth.
Read the rest of the story here: https://thegreentimes.co.za/sa-youth-say-it-is-time-to-put-mother-earth-on-a-carbon-diet/
By Andile Mlambo – a social and environmental activist working with specialist environmental justice movement Grassroots for Climate Action, advocating for social dialogues to influence the Just transition policy framework and he is also part of the multi-organisation Climate Justice Action Group (CJAG).
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