Current Affairs: Natural Peace

Many today have accustomed to practice different dietary habits including veganism, vegetarianism and lacto-ovo vegetarianism. Why? Simply because many are determined to preserve the sanctity of the Earth by trying to practice these nutriments in order to save either animals and plants. I, personally, abide by veganism on certain days with a primary reason to save animals. However, after inspired by a quote from Vincent Van Goh, “If you truly love nature, you find beauty everywhere,” I realise that there is more to be done than avoiding meat. It is the environment we have to think about. After all, what is the point of saving animals and plants from our meals, when they are still being destroyed under disordered conditions? 

 The deteriorating state of the environment has to concern us. If we do not bother, then the future will shake us with a catastrophic milieu. Are animals behind the cause of the excessive emission of the chlorofluorocarbon? Do plants operate vehicles and discharge carbon monoxide? I hope not, or else our syllabus must be revised. Everybody should emerge as environmental activists because the harm done to the environment is all by us, and it is in our responsibility to terminate that. NASA’s reports, predicting how average surface temperature could rise between 2 degree Celcius to 6 degree Celcius by the end of the 21st century, is forewarning us that it is time to act before it is too late. 

 Alarmed by this, for the first time in history of mankind, citizens of a particular nation have sued their government for the harm done to their nature. The citizens have held their government responsible for ineffective climate policy. They might seem like nature’s fanatic, but it is time the rest of the world recognise them as environmental activists. It is not about who they are suing, it is about what they are advocating for. These 900 citizens are not individuals who are overly obsessed with the environment. Instead, they understand their nation’s Constitutional Law and its role, using it to their advantage to determine their rights as part of the human race. 

 What they are demanding is merely for the government to reduce the discharge of greenhouse gases as agreed upon by the European Union. Unfortunately, this country, that is the Netherlands refuse to participate in the European Union’s act to reduce discharge by 40 percent until 2030. Shockingly enough, one fourth of the nation is below sea level. However, the constructions of dams and water walls have been a successful solution to this issue, eliminating other options once and for all. According to zmescience.com, only 4.5 percent of energy consumed in the Netherlands comes from renewable sources, which makes it quite far from its intended goal of reaching 15 percent by 2020.

 “What we are saying is that our government is co-creating a dangerous change in the world,” Roger Cox, a legal adviser for the plaintiffs, tells RTCC. “We feel that there’s a shared responsibility for any country to do what is necessary in its own boundaries to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions as much as is needed.” It is not about how a nation is prospering, it is about how the citizens and government are collaborating in the effort of nation building. 

 As I write this, I reflect on myself as a citizen and realise that I am not worthy of being called a citizen just because I was born and am residing in that nation. Rather, it is about the understanding of my rights and to demand if I am denied of it. This is what I regard as natural peace, because for the first time in mankind, it is not about us; it is about the world we are living in. It is about how amity has been restored into the nature, thanking these 900 citizens who rightfully deserve a standing ovation.