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The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of a delicately balanced blanket of gases, which trap enough heat to sustain life on Earth. But by burning fossil fuels (like coal, oil and gas) and pumping billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide (C02) and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, humans are upsetting this balance. These gases are trapping more and more heat, warming the globe and throwing our climate into chaos.
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Most of us know there’s problem, know we have something to do with it, and know something must be done about it.
Yet many of us don’t understand, or don’t believe, that our individual actions can make a difference.
A lot of us are confused. A recent Greenpeace survey revealed that most Kiwis think the ozone hole is a major cause of climate change.
The ozone hole is a problem because it lets in more dangerous UV rays. These don’t cause climate change, but can cause skin cancer. New Zealand, and most other countries, have long banned the CFC aerosol sprays and refrigerants that were the main causes of damage to the ozone layer – but it will take decades to recover.
Climate change, on the other hand, is about the world warming up, polar regions melting, and the weather becoming more unstable and unpredictable. It is happening because we’ve upset the delicate balance of gases in our atmosphere.
We’ve added too much of the types of gas that trap heat – the most significant being carbon dioxide, created by burning fossil fuels - especially in our cars and our power stations.
To take action, one must understand cause and effect. A smoker will not give up unless they understand the link between their habit and the potentially deadly consequences.
So, how can we expect individuals to reduce their “carbon footprint” if they don’t understand how or why they should?
Greenpeace has been campaigning on climate change for twenty years. We’ve lobbied politicians, addressed UN conferences, organised protest actions, and even developed climate-friendly technologies.
Yet, perhaps our greatest challenge of all is to convince the general public of the need to take personal action, and to empower them to do so.
Not only must we clear up the confusion that surrounds climate change, we must demonstrate that the actions of just one person can make a difference.
We all know the names of great activists who have changed the world - Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. But we only know these names because of the millions of citizens who joined them in their struggles, and made them a success.
The Indians who defied the colonial laws against making salt, the black Americans who refused to ride segregated buses, and the people around the world who boycotted Apartheid South Africa and what it stood for.
These were the people who really created the change we know today.
The real heroes of any mass movement are the ordinary individuals who take a stand. And so it must be with climate change. We can’t rely on politicians or technology to save us from this one. We all have a part to play.
The real heroes of our generation won’t so much be the Al Gores or the other climate campaign figureheads. They will be the ordinary people who replaced their lightbulbs, who bought local produce, and who took the bus.
They will be the people who saw the kind of world they wanted future generations to inherit, and modelled it. They will be the people that heeded the timeless advice of Mahatma Gandhi, “you must be the change you want to see in the world”.
Yet many of us don’t understand, or don’t believe, that our individual actions can make a difference.
A lot of us are confused. A recent Greenpeace survey revealed that most Kiwis think the ozone hole is a major cause of climate change.
The ozone hole is a problem because it lets in more dangerous UV rays. These don’t cause climate change, but can cause skin cancer. New Zealand, and most other countries, have long banned the CFC aerosol sprays and refrigerants that were the main causes of damage to the ozone layer – but it will take decades to recover.
Climate change, on the other hand, is about the world warming up, polar regions melting, and the weather becoming more unstable and unpredictable. It is happening because we’ve upset the delicate balance of gases in our atmosphere.
We’ve added too much of the types of gas that trap heat – the most significant being carbon dioxide, created by burning fossil fuels - especially in our cars and our power stations.
To take action, one must understand cause and effect. A smoker will not give up unless they understand the link between their habit and the potentially deadly consequences.
So, how can we expect individuals to reduce their “carbon footprint” if they don’t understand how or why they should?
Greenpeace has been campaigning on climate change for twenty years. We’ve lobbied politicians, addressed UN conferences, organised protest actions, and even developed climate-friendly technologies.
Yet, perhaps our greatest challenge of all is to convince the general public of the need to take personal action, and to empower them to do so.
Not only must we clear up the confusion that surrounds climate change, we must demonstrate that the actions of just one person can make a difference.
We all know the names of great activists who have changed the world - Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. But we only know these names because of the millions of citizens who joined them in their struggles, and made them a success.
The Indians who defied the colonial laws against making salt, the black Americans who refused to ride segregated buses, and the people around the world who boycotted Apartheid South Africa and what it stood for.
These were the people who really created the change we know today.
The real heroes of any mass movement are the ordinary individuals who take a stand. And so it must be with climate change. We can’t rely on politicians or technology to save us from this one. We all have a part to play.
The real heroes of our generation won’t so much be the Al Gores or the other climate campaign figureheads. They will be the ordinary people who replaced their lightbulbs, who bought local produce, and who took the bus.
They will be the people who saw the kind of world they wanted future generations to inherit, and modelled it. They will be the people that heeded the timeless advice of Mahatma Gandhi, “you must be the change you want to see in the world”.
