Be it the raging fires in Russia, ravaging floods in Pakistan or the heavy snowfall in Europe, government machinery was drastically ill-prepared when it came to handling such situations. What had been astounding in all these incidents was the magnitude of impact that required a massive scaling-up of rescue efforts.
The heat wave that dominated the Northern hemisphere caused severe climatic conditions leading to the forest fires in Russia. The cold snap in Europe, believed to have been caused by the arctic oscillations, brought life to a standstill. The floods in Pakistan were the worst in nearly a century. Caused due to heavy monsoon rains, nearly a fifth of the country was under water. While these incidents did give some time for authorities to react, an incident of cloudburst at Leh, a high altitude town in the Himalayan region, virtually did not give any response time. Landslides caused by the cloudburst virtually swept off the entire town leaving little chance of any rescue attempt.
In Russia, the government thought it better to play down the forest fires by censoring vital information. While some criticize this action suggesting that timely sharing of information could have helped in limiting the damages and causalities, the government holds that this was done to prevent panic. Forest fires are not unusual in Russia but still there is much needed to be done to frame a proper fire-fighting policy and a mechanism for timely response. This would need lot of awareness among people about forest fires. Also, the role of media needs to be redefined as it should play a proactive role. This incident drives home a point that climate change impacts would be much severe than the ‘usual’ events we have been witnessing over time.
In Pakistan, the enormity of damage was so difficult to ascertain that it left aid agencies and the international community looking out for reliable statistics. The less developed countries would be facing similar issues as remote areas are not well connected. These nations would be facing the brunt of climate change as their response mechanisms would not be robust enough. Moreover, enormous funds are needed to tide over such situations. This can have a crippling effect on economy for a very long time. While Pakistan called out for financial assistance, little was mobilized initially.
In Europe, the heaviest snowfall in recent history, brought traffic to a grinding halt as roads, rail and airports were dumped with thick layers of snow. As airport authorities made frantic efforts to clear the runways, little seemed to give solace to the harried passengers who had to take refuge in the airport lounges. Disenchantment over under-staffed workforce, lack of sufficient machinery and the Christmas holiday rush at some busy international airports were seen among officials. The ensuing chaos did leave many disappointed.
The year also witnessed one of the worst corporate environment disasters – the BP Oil Spill – with consequences yet unknown that would have recurring negative impacts on environment. As agencies grappled to find a solution to ‘cap’ the leak, the fast spilling oil contaminated sea water and wiped out aquatic life. This event also exposed the risks of extracting volatile substances under extreme pressure. While the blame game oscillates between Obama Administration for initially waiving regulatory environmental requirements to BP, for using harmful chemicals to disperse oil during the spill, the fragile under-sea ecosystem has been dangerously compromised.
However, on a positive note, the year also saw some international NGOs mounting pressure on governments and industry big-wigs to take radical decisions to protect local communities and wildlife. Greenpeace Campaign against Sinar Mas, a palm oil producer, and leading companies like Dove, using palm oil, led to severing of contractual arrangements with Sinar Mas. This has forced Sinar Mas to take a relook at its business strategy. Environment-friendly measures from such companies would protect the endangered species like the Sumatran Orang Utan and the Indonesian forests.
In India, a landmark victory for a remote tribe – Dongria Kondh, in the state of Orissa, against a bauxite mining project that threatened to steal them of their livelihood, marked a shift in environment policy of the government. Vedanta Resources, the company in question, was rebuked by the Indian Environment Ministry for serious environmental violations and was asked to stop work. Media campaigning by Survival International highlighted the ground realities – the false promises from Vedanta, the plight of displaced people, and the customs and beliefs of the tribal community.
To sum it all, 2010 was the year of Fire, Floods and Oil that led to environmental chaos. Will these events act as an eye-opener and create the much needed sense of urgency for a global climate deal in 2011? The uncompromising stand taken by Japan, Russia, Canada and Australia during Cancun Climate Talks does not augur well for a comity of nations seeking to work towards a common goal
The Cancun Agreement might be seen as a stepping stone towards this gigantic move but will our learning from such events change the way we look at things? With the hope of moving into the New Year with expectations that better sense will prevail, lot of ground needs to be covered to ensure that ‘sustainability’ gets incorporated into our fundamental approach.
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