Global Warming and the common man
With the G8 summit in Japan crying out loud and clear on the global warming issue, I thought I should also share my views with you all. Most of us will agree with the fact that we all should contribute one way or the other to make this world a better place and we also should give some thought to the Global warming. How can we all do this? One way to do is to care for the carbon footprints which we all leave when we go about our daily grind.
When I was living in Mumbai, I had a car and I drove it practically everywhere. In Tokyo I take the public transport. Honestly, speaking this is not by choice. I do fly quite often on personal and professional assignments. I have now started to think about what kind of carbon footprint I am leaving. I have also started to think as to what more I can do to change the world I live in rather than simply existing in it.
I cannot stop boarding airplanes as firstly, my job requires me to do so and secondly my immediate family living in different countries forces us to board airplanes to catch up with each other. I cannot stop using automobiles be they public transport.... So how and where do I get started. The first step I feel is being aware of life beyond our own house, our office and our work. As a first step we should start respecting the life next to us and also follow the adage of dignity of work. It becomes prime responsibility of the learned and the enlightened few to lead the world not by talk but by example. Leadership is not being angry at all times when things go wrong. Leadership is about getting angry and wanting to do something so that things do not go wrong the next time.
It all starts with meeting good people in different walks of life and either learning or getting inspired from them or teaching people and inspiring them. We can also think of how to give back to society. Most of us including I feel strongly about hunger, poverty, etc.. but do not what to do about it except shelling out the occasional donations to big causes.
Environmental pollution has become a major issue of the decade. In the recent G8 summit it was pointed out that the developing countries viz. India and China should also commit to this cause. However, I feel that rather than forcing the governments to toe the line. It is the people themselves who should stop buying products from companies which employ child labor, flout pollution laws etc. It is a question of people using their buying power to make the world a better place.
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