Car as a wealth symbol.

Oh, that's the week with many climate change news around the world.
I'm so close to finish my report and my studies. I hope in October I will be a Master! :) Hopefully.

I was thinking a lot last time about consumption and our never-ending readiness to buy things. I'm living in the country that was under communist rule till I was born. My parents still remember empty shops and incredibly long queues to get something. That's the thing that Poland after long time of lacking of staff jumped to the very different stage. Example: the car. The problem I think is much more wider and I would like to write about it one day but let's stay with cars. Last time I have heard many times from friends and family "Ania, it's time to get a driving licence, get a car" - in the context "be serious' serious people have cars". And you know, I felt quite bad with that because I just think I simply don't need that. Well, I can get right now everywhere by public transport. I really enjoy walking too. But this pressure is around me.

In the city of Poznań the number of cars per 1000 inhabitants is one of the highest in Poland. I think it is great that people can enjoy this comfort and make their life easier.But I am strongly against treating a car like a symbol of status. 

The potential to reduce carbon dioxide emission from vehicles is pretty big. It's difficult to call any car totally green but anyway, nowadays they are getting more green and this is positive trend. We have as well other means of transport and it would be nice if the society feel that it's not about the money. Think, making intelligent public transport and support for bicycle routes will help. But our mentality is the key. On the way to sustainable development there is a strong need to reduce number of cars. 

In the end, kind of idea how to make your car literally green :)

Moving beyond…

As long as climate change was a matter of discussion in the field of nature sciences there was no bother about implications of global warming for human security and global stability. Right now, when scientific community became almost  consistent about biological side of this phenomena, it’s time to move forward. Time for understanding consequences of climate change for societies, states and international relations.

It came to me when I was searching for materials about climate change influence on security for my studies. And to my astonishment many people just avoid of treating climate change through the lens of agriculture, development, conflicts and so on. I was digging in thousands of articles in the newspapers and magazine’s websites and I realized one thing. Those comments below were many times something between joke and mockery from climate induced instabilities, conflicts, famine or migration. Doesn’t it mean that willful blindness became common around us?

The problem of climate change consequences for society it’s not a new concept. It was discussed many times from scientific reports to security strategies of many countries. But the climate change itself is so abstract that effects of it can be even more. How decision makers can apply solutions for reducing gases emission if society doesn’t seem to see the consequences of climate change.

Published by European Commission and High Representative report about climate change and security briefly shows consequences e.g. conflicts around resources scarcity, migration, political instability or economic costs. Diseases and shortage of water causes decline of living standards in least developed countries (LDCs). Let’s just use the example of Darfur – one of the most terrible conflict of our times. Conditions in this province of Sudan were getting worse and there was lack of water and arable land progressing with climate change induced draught. The world averted its eyes.

It seems inevitable to pull discussion beyond the thought: Oh, it will be warmer and this is it. Climate change will simply affect human life. It is proved that costs of global warming will be higher than benefits. Better political commitment and creating awareness programmes may help. Although the most important is empathy for more sensitive to climate change societies. This incredibly long-term effort has potential to fight with impasse in UN climate talks. There is high time to see the climate as a threat multiplier for us. It’s high time to bring discussion closer to people.