Green Plus Issu 14

CLIMATE
the detractors, I would like to think of the
agreement as a representation of world solidarity
on climate change and should be celebrated
as a step in the right direction. Yes,
it might not be fair for everyone but it does
give us something to work on in the coming
years. What is clear is that much more work
is needed to fulfill the commitments.
…but, there’s always another hill to
climb
No matter how many hillsconquered
there was always another that stood
between me and Paris. That fact didn’t
change until the Eiffel tower was in sight.
I’ll never forget the first time we
glimpsed it
The Paris Agreement is no doubt a
momentous occasion. The challenge now
is to make sure every party fulfills their
promise and that such future climate talks
Serves as a bike stand too!
would always put the collective needs.
HAVING A BUDDY OR BETTER YET A
GROUP, HELPS
Humans are social creatures. I’m not
ashamed to admit that I would not have
been able to do this cycle without my buddy,
Marcel or the awesome groupmates. Dave
(our Brompton riding leader), Hanna (the
vegan chick on a bike from the 80s), with
the 3 other couples- Jack (the happy go
lucky dude with a ponytail) and Jessie (the
ever bubbly optimist), David (our handyman
extraordinaire) and Rebecca (the caring
one with a small bladder), Aidan (the caring
boyfriend) and Antonia (girl with the Harry
Potter glasses). We supported
each other by giving words of encouragement
and waiting if either one of us were lagging
behind (this was mostly me).
One would think that with 193 countries
in the UNFCCC COP, a consensus would
be almost impossible to reach. Some would
want to dictate future movements while
others vote in groups. However, I feel that
this immense number should be seen as an
advantage. As a country, there are 192 others
in the same boat. The knowledge that all of us
are in this together has to spur parties to work
harder and support each other to combat
climate change. After all, there is only one
Planet Earth.
WHEN THE TIMES GET TOUGH,
IMPROVISE!
This one is not from me, but from the
resourcefulness of David. We met David and
Rebecca on the first day. Both of them were
cycling to Paris despite not being part of Climate
Kilometre. Since they didn’t know the existence
of a transport van, David was carrying a cabin
sized trolley bag on his bike. When he eventually
found it was too heavy to cycle up the hills with a
bag in tow, he improvised by cable tying the bag
to the back of his bike at a 45 degree angle! This
simulated a person dragging a bag and reduced
the weight he had to carry tremendously! Along
the way, he improvised with an inner tube dampener
to reduce the stiffness.
To combat climate change, human innovation
can be our single most potent weapon. By the
Malthusian principle, the human race couldn’t
have increase exponentially while food production
only increased linearly. And yet here we
are. I believe the intensive farming driven by
the advances in machinery and development of
Ostwald process to produce nitrogenous fertilizer
saved the world from mass starvation. Now,
we are at this critical juncture where a paradigm
shifting innovation is once again needed. Who
knows? We might already have an answer in the
works.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, IT IS ALL IN
THE MIND
To be honest, there was not one moment
throughout the ride that I thought about giving
up and taking a train to Paris. After all, what would
I have gained if I completed the ride? I wouldn’t
have made any difference in the decisions made
in COP. Nevertheless, I decided to complete what
I started, to make a pointthat anything is possible
as long as you put your mind to it.
The same could be said about climate change.
A good friend once told me that ‘Nothing worth
doing/having comes easy’. For a better world, we
need better policies, better cooperation among
countries and political leaders willing to do what
is necessary. It might be difficult at first, but the
mind has a way of turning impossible feats into
reality.
On a concluding note, I urge all of you to take
into consideration your individual actions to
combat climate change. Just simple gestures, if
practised by the masses will make a difference.
Eat up all your food, bike to work, use public
transport, recycle your waste, install solar panels.
Remember, climate change will affect everyone
including our children and their children’s
children.
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Greenplus TM MARCH 2016