THE CLIMATE IS CHANGING......

The obvious effects of #climatechange being felt by everyone cannot be overemphasized. As I walked a 500-meter distance by 10.30 a.m WAT recently on the street of Lagos, Nigeria, the intensity of the scorching sun was an obvious indication that #globalwarming is intensifying. Also, I heard people in the Arctic region complain about the extreme cold and how the summer heat has gotten a little intolerable. Although there still exists a group of skeptics who assert that the rise in global temperatures has slowed or stopped, assuming that is correct, can we deny our experiences and observations? What about the findings of numerous studies that continue to refute this claim?

Climate scientists and renowned professionals in the environmental space have re-iterated the urgent need for all activities in both individual and business contexts to keep striving to limit global warming to 1.50C by 2040 if we are to avoid a future in which life on earth would have to experience the worst and most devastating negative effects of our actions. Among them are poor water quality and extreme water scarcity in some areas, unpredictable flood outbursts, rising sea levels, an exponential rise in temperature, severe fires, melting polar ice, intense droughts, catastrophic storms, declining biodiversity, and all sorts of other hazards that are unknown as of now.

The efforts of notable advocates on the climate change trail are highly acknowledged; however, now more than ever is the time we all from various spheres need to intensify efforts through productive collaboration to further increase climate change awareness and thirst for a sustainable environment for generations to come. Also, worthy of mentioning is the dire need to declare without relenting a state of emergency across the world concerning climate change.

It’s devastating that some elites among us have little or no knowledge on the topic of climate change, while we have another set of elites with a plethora of knowledge about this topic but go about their lives like nothing of the sort exists. How then do we expect a market woman or a farmer who has lived in a rural area all his or her life to understand and carry out activities in ways that can help the earth heal from the effects of climate change?

Before we take our campaign to those who are not aware that climate change exists, let’s address those of us who have so much knowledge about the focus of discussion: what are we doing differently from people who are not informed? It is therefore time we all live responsibly.

Permit me to conclude in the exact words of UN Secretary-General, H. E. A. ''António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres'' P. at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in November 2021: "Our fragile planet is hanging by a thread," and we must stop acting as if we have nothing at stake.

Let’s wake up and build a more sustainable world!