[Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/nyregion/new-york-city-climate-change-march.html?_r=0#. Accessed: 09/21/2014.
Action against global climate change is overdue! Today’s matches around the world illustrate the people’s willingness to act against the unprecedented impacts of climate change and the lack of actions by their leaders. One goal of the match is to send a strong message to authorities that ‘we the people can no longer sit, wait, and do nothing to revert the effects of anthropogenic-induced climate change. As UN Secretary General stated, “there is no plan B because there is no planet B.” Millions of people around the world, not only those in New York City, share similar vision, which resonates with nature’s call, to act now or face total annihilation in decades to come. If we don’t act now our children and their children will have to live and pay for our crimes against nature.
Our leaders over the past few decades have being playing the political games to act or not to act, prioritizing other ‘national security issues’ and sidelining one that could put all of us in the deepest abyss just by a single strike. Should we continue to sit like the ‘dumb and dumber’ as our lives and the lives of future generations become part of a political game plan? No more! The people stood up today and sounded one of the loudest calls for our leaders to wake up from daydreaming and do what’s right to change the status quo to revert global climate change.
Today, we listened to talks of wars from Ukraine to Boko Haram to al-Shabaah to Islamic State and the story of these atrocities as well as our military engagements and narrative continue to flow just as issues of climate change are silently tabled. Will the fight against IS to instate peace, democracy, justice, and transparency in the Middle East and other parts of the world over shadow the war against global climate change? A war that doesn’t discriminate whether you are a muslim or christian, whether we are poor or rich, whether we live in Hollywood or Bollywood or Nollywood, black or white, indigenous or not. When the climate strikes those who are more vulnerable would be impacted first and in most cases worst. The match has sounded the warning that we need to proactively, aggressively, and decisively act now to address the unprecedented effects of climate change by reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and the wars against Islamic State, Boko Haram, al-Shabaah, etc. should not overshadow the war against climate change. Our leaders need to wake up and act because they have just heard the people’s will and their will is to act and to act NOW!