From green technology to the Kyoto protocol, one would deem environmental issues to be a solution to international relations, rather than a global problem. In the era in which many are well aware of the environmental problems which plague us, such as global warming and pollution, one can be rest assured that there has been a large demand for countries to seek more sustainable measures in the usage of finite resources. While many argue that green efforts have been meaningful as more countries realise the pressing environmental challenges which surround them; taking a realist view, this essay asserts that such green efforts are mere token gesture, as countries exploit them to enhance their stature and prestige.
It has been known that many politicians have used environmental issues to gain personal prestige or political clout rather than be concerned to solve them. In an era in which the world has a greater awareness of the environment, there is a larger pressure from environmental enthusiast for political action to occur in a bid to save the environment. Realising such a need, many politicians attempt to make empty promises in a bid to win voters during elections. As those who willingly deal with environmental issues through brave endeavours have been deemed to have taken the moral high ground, their actions tend to be more popular with the people, especially budding environmental enthusiasts. However, most of such promises are left broken and are nothing more than a manner in which politicians gain prestige. For instance, in the case of Barrack Obama, he was known to have advocated for green energy in the US, having encouraged the implementation of two thousand wind turbines to harness a sustainable form of energy. Such an action had gained the approval of many people, resulting in the massive lead he held during the 2008 presidential elections. However, such tree hugging intentions did not sustain long in the US, as it was known that Obama had instead taken a less environmentally friendly approach during his period in government, with the dropping of all environmental plans in 2011.
Still, one could argue that in spite of such politicians which make use of environmental issues to enhance their political clouts, there are politicians who do see the pressing need for green efforts. Such is the case of the ex US vice president, Al Gore, who was known to have done the documentary, “An inconvenient truth’ which strongly advocates for the need to solve environmental problems. It is with politicians such as Al Gore in which one would realise that such environmental efforts are not just based only on personal gain, but instead on one’s true belief that change is necessary in order to save mother Earth.
However, such altruism seems aimless, as even Al Gore himself has not proposed an effective plan which could save the Earth from its impending doom. While many brag of the amount of environmental conservation they would do for their countries, the lack of a well planned scheme for the environment has been unsettling. Given the nature of most protocols being non-binding, there has not been any decisive action taken towards the environment, resulting in the abandonment of many green efforts, deeming efforts to be ineffective.
Similarly, green efforts can be dismissed as mere token gestures, as countries only deal with their environmental issues when they seek diplomatic ties or funding internationally. As countries are given certain incentives if they were to invest in green technologies, many countries have embarked on the green approach. China, for instance, has spear headed the global green movement by investing two billion dollars into it’s green technology sector. While this may be a hefty sum in the short run, China stands to gain cheaper costs in harnessing energy through subsidies as well as deepening diplomatic ties with other like-minded nations. Therefore, as environmental concerns are only pursued with an ulterior motive, one could dismiss them as mere token gestures.
However, it is only through such incentives that some countries are able to gain greater environmental awareness amongst its population. With more countries embarking on such projects, their citizens would then become more aware of the environmental concerns as it now concerns their own lives. This in turn would mean the potential for greater pressure on their governments to further embark on other green efforts. Such can be said in the case of the US, which was pressured to sign the Kyoto protocol. Having signed the protocol, there was an increase the amount of people and lobbyists for the green movement, eventually leading to the strong demand for environmentally friendly governance. Through such a mechanism, one would realise that these green efforts are not merely token gestures but also ways to bring about education to the public on environmental issues.
In conclusion, one would view that green efforts while noble, have mostly been reduced to that of token gestures amongst nations and politicians. One personally would think that to make such efforts effective, individual folks should not merely rely on the government but also actively play their part. By simply switching off the lights after leaving the room or using public transport, green efforts would not have to be relied upon the governments, which may view environmental causes to be secondary issues. Therefore, in order for green efforts to progress to be more than token gestures, each and every citizen of this planet would have to do his bid to save mother Earth.