Let's Support Climate Change Advocacy

There's a dangerous environmental crisis that needs our attention. The global atmosphere is getting hot and the climate movement has drastically change. It seems the earth is heading to destruction.

Next to wars and hunger, global warming (the main cause why there's a massive change in our climate condition), is another problem of the world that directly affects humanity. It needs  an immediate action from world leaders. And citizens. There should be no excuses. Everyone should participate in this advocacy. 

Today, November 4, is the historic day where the Paris Agreement on Climate Change enters into force. Ninety seven countries already ratified the deal, except few countries, including the Philippines. 

What are the basic elements in the Paris Agreement?

The Paris Agreement brings all nations to work on a common cause, that is to combat, if not, lessen the effect of climate change. It aims to strengthen the global response over the danger of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise into just 2 degrees celsius. This means that all nations must concentrate more and more on renewable energy rather than on nuclear and coal sources.

The agreement also aims to boost the countries' capacity to deal on the impacts of climate change. Appropriate financial and technological frameworks will be established to realize this goal, and aid vulnerable countries that lacked resources to implement and balance the deal. The agreement requires all parties/signatories to strengthen their efforts on nationally determined contributions. The agreement requires parties to regularly report their emissions and implementation efforts.

Climate change is a global phenomenon, therefore, requires the cooperation of all citizens. However, it is frustrating to know that some never actually care. What made things worse, there are individuals who are not even aware they have already contributed massively to the worsening condition of the atmosphere. 

The challenge to respond to the Paris Agreement 

As an ordinary citizen, how would we take the challenge to combat climate change? There are many ways, but as an individual, we can best respond to the challenge by understanding carbon footprints. We can't force the government to ditch the approval of coal plants or its efforts to support industrial revolution that consumes too much energy, but we can moderate our lifestyle.

Carbon footprints refer to the volume of carbon we generated/released to the atmosphere through our daily activities. Each action has a corresponding carbon footprint. The way we commute, the way we eat, the way we live. All these factors have a corresponding carbon footprint. 

How would we minimize our carbon footprint? 

Here are some ways:

1. Minimize consumption of dairy and meat products - Slaughter houses, animal rearing and dairy products processes consume too much heat and energy. It also produces tons of waste that contributes to the worsening condition of garbage disposal. All these activities release too much carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

2. If the church, market, mall or any destination, are just a few distance, why not just walk instead of riding? It would not hurt if you just take few sacrifices for the sake of the environment. Walking, in fact benefits one's health.. Riding a bike is an excellent option. Or any cars that release few carbon dioxide. 

3. Conserve energy at home, or even water. Rainfall seeding has been popular in the past years. In our home, we have containers ready in case of rain. Utilize rain water on household cleaning, cars and gardens instead of metered water.

4. Always use environmentally-friendly products. And always recycle things in the house instead of throwing it immediately into the garbage. Use eco bags instead of plastic.

5. Avoid burning plastics, chemically-produced materials and electrical materials. It can cause damage to the atmosphere. 

6. Go organic and support urban farming. Grow vegetables and plants in the backyard, or in pots. This will help restore the coolness of the environment. 

7. Let's be aware with the classifications of products we used. Promote green products instead of chemically-produced ones. 

8. Avoid smoking in public. This is obviously dangerous to the environment, aside from the hazard it gives to everyone's health, smoking is toxic.

9. Utilize renewable/solar sources of energy instead of coal.

10. Minimize energy consumption at home and office. Go paperless on office transactions.

There are still tons of activities in our daily life that we can moderate to fight climate change. But the primary action is our awareness towards carbon footprints, this is an individual responsibility that should never be ignored.