Environmental degradation:

Industrialised countries treat only the symptoms

By P. Krishnaswamy

Earth Hour, the global movement campaigning against carbon emission and climate change has still not come up with an answer to the question of changing weather patterns experienced in recent years in many parts of the world, including Sri Lanka, said Co-founder and CEO of Andy Ridley who was in Colombo last week to launch the Earth Hour 2013 campaign in Sri Lanka.

Development should be done in a way that does not contribute to environmental degradation and addressing development that has already contributed to carbon emission is very challenging, he said.

It is challenging because governments, including the US federal government, have not passed laws to address the basic issues related to climate change, he said. So how can you expect them to do more important things in this respect?, he asked.

The well-attended symposium was also addressed by Minister of Environment Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, the chief guest, Minister of Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Agriculture, Agrarian Development, Minor Irrigation, Industries and Environment of the Western PC Udaya Gammanpila and Country Manager of Earth Hour Sri Lanka Abdul Qadir Uvais.

The Earth Hour tries to give the people a platform to voice their opinion and exert pressure on governments in a positive way to have their environmental concerns addressed suitably, he said.

Sri Lankans should have a voice in the campaign as much as Australians, Singaporeans or anyone in the world, he said.

The US and other industrialised countries are only treating the symptoms and not the disease. They have energy and they want to use more energy, Ridley said.

Changing weather patterns and catastrophe is not a phenomenon limited to Sri Lanka or any other country. It is a phenomenon all over the world. Less than a month ago New York, one of the biggest cities in the world, was devastated by a hurricane and was inundated by floods. It happened in London and it happened in New Jersey. Carbon emission has to be stopped soon and the way in which we use energy should be changed, Ridley said.

Speaking at the symposium, Western PC Minister Udaya Gammanpila said that Heads of State appear in talk shows such as the UN Climate Change Conference and disappear without achieving anything concrete. Unfortunately they talk a lot and act little to achieve this objective and there are a large number of conferences nationally and internationally to discuss reduction of carbon emissions, he said.

Earth Hour is a symbol of commitment of the people towards Mother Earth, Gammanpila said adding that in 2009, the third year of Earth Hour, he personally observed it by switching off the lights of his campaign office during the campaign for the Western PC.

In 2010 the Ministry of Environment, under the leadership of Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, joined the observation of the EH. In 2011, the EH was observed at the Rajasinha National School in Kolannawa with the Australian High Commissioner as the chief guest, Gammanpila said.

Last year's observation was historical in that President Mahinda Rajapaksa observed EH as the 15th Head of State of the world to join the big event, he said.

Earth Hour 2013 aims to show that people, businesses and governments worldwide are taking part to reduce their environmental impact, thereby establishing and encouraging others to join an interconnected global community engaged in dialogue and resource sharing that generates real solutions to environmental challenges.

It is the largest environment campaign in the history of our planet, successfully uniting the world to take collective action by switching off non-essential lights for one hour in celebration of our planet.

Many private institutions such as Fonterra Lanka, Expolanka Group of Companies, Hilton Residencies, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Jetwing Hotels, Environment Foundation Limited, Expo Rail, to name a few, showed its support for Earth Hour and celebrated Earth Hour.

Over 152 countries and 7,000 cities are part of Earth Hour, which is now a 10-year project called, "I Will if You Will."

As explained by Ridley, the project is a series of challenges. The most successful one was in Russia, he said, where the World Wild Life Fund (WWF) had tried to pass marine protection legislation for over seven years.

A Russian politician had thereafter issued an 'I Will if You Will' challenge - where he said he will put the bill before Parliament if 100,000 signatories were collected for Earth Hour.