To Jordan and our leadership, the global challenge of climate change is being taken very seriously, as it should be.
His Majesty King Abdullah is scheduled on Monday to participate in the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, the UK, which seeks to achieve the major goal of spurring “ambitious 2030 emissions reductions targets that align with reaching net zero by the middle of the century,” according to COP26’s official website.
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In fact, His Majesty took the opportunity last month at the UN General Assembly meeting to highlight the urgent need to aptly address the alarming phenomenon and bring an end to the deterioration through unified international efforts. He told the world that “If humanity faced no other threats at all, we would still need to unite to face the most existential (threat) of our time — the global climate crisis.”
Jordan, one of the world’s five water-poorest countries, is in a dire need for drastic solutions. It is, like many others, a victim of a problem caused by humans collectively, and is consequently taking actions on the national level, as noted by the King, through the National Green Growth Action Plan designed to “ensure energy efficiency and strengthen our resilience in water and agriculture.”
However, His Majesty has acknowledged that “no country can combat climate change on its own. And that is a powerful reminder of the need to develop new ways to respond as one world, one humanity, to all the crises and challenges we face.”
HRH Crown Prince Hussein echoed the same message recently, when he deputized for the King at the Middle East Green Initiative Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia, where he reiterated that climate change is “the most urgent challenge of our time,” warning that such a threat “does not receive the level of attention it demands.”
On the global level, the crisis takes various forms and shapes that are alarming enough to trigger concerns about the future of our planet.
In its most recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change, said: “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, oceans, and land.” The IPCC added that “the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is the highest it has been in 2 million years, sea level rise is at its fastest in 3,000 years, and arctic sea ice is at its lowest levels in at least 1,000 years.”
These very alarming facts have prompted the UN Secretary-General António Guterres to describe the report as a “red code for humanity.”
That is why some experts consider success at COP26 a matter of life and death for humanity. Although the gathering’s literature acknowledges there are opportunities to tackle the climate change threat, it is also aware that the world, especially advanced industrial countries, is not acting wisely fast enough.
For everyone, the Glasgow meeting should serve as a stepping stone for us to save the world. Facing climate change is, after all, a make-or-break act, or as Shakespeare said: “To be or not to be.” It is all about our existence now, and; most vital, the future.
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