“A Chance to Reveal our Environmental Struggles and Seek Help Gone Down the Drain”
By Rafic M. Assad
I know our president’s speech at the 74th United Nations General Assembly has been more than a week ago and most of you are surprised at why I’ve decided to wait this long to address any issues I might have had with it.
I’ve waited till now to give everyone the benefit of the doubt in order to see how many persons would have “thought outside the box” and realize the opportunity our president wasted by NEGLECTING OR IGNORING OUR ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS!
I guess it’s because we’re all too obsessed with politics and thus, our political obsessions have blinded our eyes to a global danger!
If you all want to be honest, I’m not one noted for being “politically motivated”, evident by the fact that not one person here can tell which political party I’m associated with; therefore, it’s worth noting that my analysis is that of a concerned Liberian and not that of a political critic or whatsoever!
Our president’s speech lasted for well over 20 minutes and he addressed so many crucial issues, I must admit!
✅He acknowledged and paid tribute to the UN for restoring Liberia’s peace after 14yrs of civil war and for maintaining peace for 16 years;
✅Explained how Liberia has evolved as a nation after the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping troops by maintaining the peace;
✅Outlined threats to our democracy, peace and stability in the form of incitement, threats of violence, hate speech, and misuse of media.
✅Revealed that the masses are crying out for the establishment of an ECONOMIC and WAR CRIMES COURT and that consultations are being made with the Liberian National Legislature and Judicial System concerning the matter and subsequently asked for the UN’s support in bringing this to fruition;
✅Explained the purpose of the PAPD (Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development): road construction, women and youth empowerment, quality education, development, good health care, etc; and outlined the challenges in the implementation of these programs: decline in prices of major exports, revenue shortfall, increasing inflation and currency depreciation…
✅Appealed to the UN for economic assistance and expertise and encouraged the investment community to come in;
✅Assured the UN of Liberia’s commitment to the International Community on all bilateral, multilateral and regional levels to foster peace and security and harmony in the world;
✅Emphasized the importance of peace and called on all Liberians to take responsibility in maintaining our peace.
I could go on and on listing other points in our president’s speech and you will find out that almost all of them are centered on development, business, politics etc. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying these issues aren’t important but they should not be used as an excuse to neglect or pay little attention to the environmental issues affecting our nation and the world at large, especially at a time where almost all of the nations of the world, including the developed countries are gearing up to fight against environmental issues.
Given that the theme of this year’s UNGA was “GALVANIZING MULTILATERAL EFFORTS FOR POVERTY ERADICATION, QUALITY EDUCATION, CLIMATE ACTION AND INCLUSION”, I feel this was an opportunity for our president to put forward our environmental issues and ask for aid from the International Community.
✅Considering that “No Poverty”,
“Quality Education”, and “Climate Action” are included in the theme of this year’s UNGA and they are all divisions of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals/Global Goals, this was a chance to reveal our progress with the SDGs and outline challenges we’re facing in accomplishing each goal and appeal for assistance.
✅This was also a chance to seek assistance for our pressing environmental issues such as:
-Improper Waste Disposal (it’s no secret that garbage is engulfing Monrovia) etc.
-Pollution
-Poor Sanitation etc.
✅Just days before our president’s speech, 16yr old Greta Thunberg spoke at the UN CLIMATE ACTION SUMMIT and emphasized the dangers of Climate Change.
Though climate change
might not be as evident in Liberia as it is in more developed countries, we’re
still not exempted from it’s effects. The world is getting hotter as a result
of more intense heat waves due to Global Warming. The NASA’s Goddard Institute
For Space Studies claimed that the global temperature of the earth has increased
by 0.8°C – 0.9°C since 1880.
To curb this increase, The Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015 called for the reduction of human emissions in order to maintain a temperature of below 1.5°C global temperature rise.
Greta Thunberg revealed that according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world had 420gigatons of Carbondioxide to emit if the goal of staying below 1.5°C is to be accomplished, but that figure is already down to less than 350gigatons.
What does this mean? This means that if our emissions continue at this current rate, our Carbondioxide Budget will be exhausted in less than 8.5 years. Have you any idea what that means??
While we’re all hoping for a better Liberia politically and economically, let’s not forget that a safe environment matters.
What is the benefit of all the political, economic and social gains when our habitat is uninhabitable and we’re all exposed to a polluted environment with harmful radiations, increasing temperatures, contaminated gases for respiration etc.?
We might end up making all the cash and having all the luxuries of life and yet, spend a vast majority of our time on hospital beds and our cash on medications.
Perhaps it might not be so crucial during our lifetime, but what about our generations to come? Remember, “Sustainability” is one of the key pillars for the continuation of life on earth!