Why the health, livability of our planet depends on us
Ever since I set foot in London, I have never ceased hearing Prince Charles’s name. He and his royal family are always mentioned in bad and good terms which in journalistic terms is called news.
The climax of course was when the mother of his children and first wife, Diana, died in that sad, infamous fatal Paris car crash of August 1997.
Recently it has been mostly about his son, Harry, who married a mixed-race woman and subsequently moved to America. Harry and Meghan Markle (parents of two children) coloured the media landscape with their interviews among which was with the celebrated Oprah Winfrey.
There are numerous other trees to Prince Charles.
Currently his younger brother, Andrew, is involved in a sexual allegation case that has been accusing him of having sex with an underage woman (now in her 30s). The scandal equally implicated a millionaire businessman who allegedly killed himself in 2019 in a prison cell.
Meantime, Charles’ father , Prince Philip died … four months ago. And the roots of this late 99-year-old husband of Her Majesty the Queen are in Greece. Writing in last Saturday’s Daily Mail, Prince Charles noted: “Owing to family connections, I have always felt a particular fascination and affection for Greece.”
But the long brilliant article was not only about Greece as a place of interest and blood ties. It discussed the fires that have engulfed this ancient Mediterranean nation. Flames seen in the USA, Australia , Portugal, Canada, etc. Part of an ongoing environmental calamity. “The devastation in the land of my father is the stuff of nightmares. We must act before it is too late.”
And here the future King of Britain reminds us of key issues. The forthcoming world summit for the environment in November 2021. A summit called Cop26 that will see 200 countries assembling in Glasgow, Scotland.
Seriously? Add the implications of the United Nations charter.
Prince Charles: “ The predictions last week in the last report of the UN’s Inter-government panel on climate change were unequivocal. Unless we take immediate and urgent action, its scientists estimate there is a 90 percent chance of extreme events that used to happen once every century to happen every year.”
Repeat.
Events that used to happen once every 100 years to happen every year.
Alarming.
Prince Charles is always in the news, yes. But this piece is not just about the future head of the monarchy. He wrote. And wrote... THAT HE HAS BEEN SAYING THAT FOR A LONG TIME. Many people have been saying. That we have destroyed our dear home. Each of us humans is given between 50 to 100 years to stay here. When we finish our tenure we pass the baton to our children. The children become custodians and carry on the job. A hundred years later they repeat the drill. In between this sojourn and living, we are supposed to care and nourish, OUR rent-free home, our beloved, Mother Earth. There are those who dominate things. They own the industries, houses, roads, main means of communication. Prince Charles cited businesses as being the main drivers of how Mother Earth’s health should proceed. Businesses, he said, are crucial in how pollution works. Right now the richest nations account for most of this self- destruction. According to stats issued by active sustainability, with its booming economy China leads with 30 percent, USA (15 percent), India (7 percent), Russia (5 percent) and Japan (4 percent). Climate trade blog alleges these powerful economies recently released 10,065 tonnes of Carbon dioxide emissions followed by USA with 5,416 tonnes of CO2 and ( India (1,711 tonnes) etc.
What does that signify?
First.
These industrial heavyweights need to accept the responsibility. Will they ? Have they? Who will tell the big elephants to reduce carbon emissions? Will our shrieks, yells and moans be heard?
We need people with big voices. Well known individuals. In this case what has Prince of Wales done? As his website explains, during the last 50 years, the Queen’s first son has used his position to “help raise public awareness about public sustainability challenges and solutions through his speeches, articles, books and films.”
What exactly is sustainability?
To sustain means to be able to strengthen or support physically or mentally. The word sustainability, has two definitions. To maintain a certain level or rate. And making sure natural resources do not harm the ecological balance, i.e. the environment.
Google cites a good example of sustainability as using natural energy, e.g. solar or sun energy. Using turbines in place of sinister polluting machines. Turbines rely on natural wind.
