World of Carbon
Young and Restless
Ramesh Shrestha
According to the World population watch the current world population is estimated at 7.8 billion of which about 3.5 billion are under the age of 30 years. Out of this, 1.8 billion are adolescents and youth between the age 15 to 29 years. This cohort is also the most educated ever in human history with diverse education and skill sets. This is also the generation which will inherit the ‘booming’ economy but with wide disparity and along with it the most severe environmental problem created by our generation along with a world with depleting natural resources.
The world this generation will inherit will have acidic oceans with depleted marine resources, decreasing soil fertility with loss of crop varieties, depleting underground fresh water resources, depleting biodiversity and expanding ozone hole. All these changes in nature are direct results of our ‘development’. Our present-day development efforts require a global average of 58 kilowatts of energy per person per day. It is equivalent to burning of 13.9 billion tons of oil annually. In the USA the energy consumption is 283 kilowatts per person per day. All this energy is to make our life a little more comfortable!
The youth of today are the largest consumer group and they are also the most interconnected locally and globally through visual, audio and written media through mobile devices. The youth, as the most active and the largest consumer group can make substantial change in the demand supply ratio with regards to how much energy we consume.
The youth movement in a number of Middle East countries gave birth to ‘Arab Spring’ which cracked some of the most hard headed autocrats in the region. The Fridays for Future movement created by Greta Thunberg is another great example of youth movement to raise public awareness on our deteriorating climate that affects everyone in the world. The question before us is how to make this generation take initiative in addressing potential solutions to the greenhouse gas problem through change in consumer behaviour.
Many countries have announced policies aiming at zero emission by different dates but we must not be fooled by commitments and deadlines which can always be moved. Changing our energy sources by switching energy sources from fossil fuel to renewable sources is not going to be sufficient. No matter what sources of energy we use there will always be some harmful bi-products.
It is time for the youth to start discussion on some kind of transformative thinking to change consumer behaviour, especially in mid and high-income countries where per capita greenhouse gas emission is highest. Switching to electric vehicles, insulating houses and universal use of LED light bulbs is good but not sufficient to make a difference. These are just cosmetics compared to what actually has to be done! It is a simple math; lower demand on energy will reduce lower energy production with lower greenhouse gas emission!
Today’s youth are more optimistic, well educated, technologically brilliant, have idealistic views of the world and are full of energy. It is this generation that can modify our way of life - distinguishing between need vs want and change the demand side of the energy equation.
It is time for climate conscious world to support the youth movement to change our wasteful lifestyle driven by consumerism greed and facilitated by global media conglomerate.
Dear Ramesh - very agreeable. More responsible consumption has to become 'cool'. But they also need to keep up the pressure on science, industry and politics.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting analysis Ramesh. Agree that today's youth are undeniably the most educated, technologically adept, and wealthiest in history, and it is they who have inherited the mess from their elders as it is encumbent on them to make those societal, cultural and personal changes that could result in a better world. Yet how is it that in Canada the past few years more gas guzzling SUV and trucks have been sold than small sedans, and the buyers are by a large majority these same young adults...especially women.??
ReplyDeleteFouad
Montreal
The marketing media is just too powerful that continue to influence people everywhere, especially the youth. I see young people driving around despite parking fee being outrageous. It looks like we need one Greta in every city to relay the message on continuous basis.
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