Climate Crisis and Clean Energy
Srilanka is a country rich in natural resources, blessed with unique collection of bio diversities which includes various species of plants and animals. It is a known fact that population growth, corruption as well as the scarcity of laws have led to the detriment of the environment creating number of environmental challenges for our country. Climate crisis and the usage of clean energy can be considered as preeminent examples for such challenges.
Climate crisis is no doubt the ‘greatest challenge of our time’ and can be considered as a much bigger threat than COVID 19. The biggest driver of climate change can be our burning fossil fuels which lead to the increase of the concentration of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide to our atmosphere. This along with scenarios such as clearance of land for agriculture is directly related to the change of temperature of our planet. Rising sea levels, change of weather patterns, melting of ice and vanishing of species are all end results of climate change and if no action is taken it will be judgment day for us soon. Natural processes lead to climate change, but the activities of humans have led to climate change which is occurring at a rate higher than natural processes.
Global warming is the increase of temperature transpired due to natural processes, presently accelerating due to human activities. The emission of fossil fuels is the main contributor to climate change. The reason behind this is because; carbon dioxide is produced when fossil fuels are used to generate electricity. Another mode for the generation of electricity is the destruction of forests and burning of forests. Chemical gasses such as Methane and Nitrous oxides are by products from agricultural activities and the changes of land usage and also the release of gasses such as CFC due to the industrial processes have contributed immensely to climate change. The above fact is proved in a report by the IPCC which is “Srilanka’s National Communication to the Intergovernmental Climate Change” where it was stated that land and forest change, energy transformation industries are the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in Sri Lanka. The recent article published in the Daily Mirror Newspaper dated March 5th 2021 states that scientific surveys have found out that the oxygen percentage in the atmosphere of the Colombo city is gradually declining in proportion to its population, and the ministry of education has planned to launch a tree planting programme to address this issue. The real question is, are we too late? I would like to comment on this situation of the country based on what Chief Siettle once said. He said, “….. only when the last tree has died and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we cannot eat money…” The statistics of the temperature data of our motherland has shown that the temperature in Sri Lanka is increasing every decade by 0.16 Celsius and the trends of rainfalls have changed immensely which we experienced during the last few weeks with less rainfall. It is a well-known fact that climate change affects sea levels and global temperature and a recent assessment by the IPCC states that this will continue for centuries even if greenhouse gas concentrations are stabilized now that the damage is done.
Sources of energy include different types of non-renewable resources which are limited in supply and are demarcated, like fossil fuels. On the other hand, renewable resources are not demarcated and include solar energy, wind energy etc. The per capita energy in Srilanka has been substantially increasing every year for an instance in 2003 the total energy demand was contributed with the combination of biomass, hydro and petroleum. Along with that a high percentage was from the industrial and transport sector of Sri Lanka whereas even the commercial, household and other sectors too contributed. To address the clean energy issue in Sri Lanka the construction of Srilanka’s first coal power plant is already in process while also introducing new sources of energy, increasing efficiency and also reducing wastage would contribute towards energy conservation in Sri Lanka. Thermal power generation is not the only driving force for air pollution, it is stated that even environment degradation such as soil erosion and precipitation of reservoirs affects the energy sector. The most efficient example for this is the soil erosion in the upper mahaweli that resulted in the downstream of the Polgolla reservoir as a result trapping at least 70% of the sediment. It is an already established fact that the usage of renewable energy sources plays the key role to put an end note to greenhouse emissions and to stabilize the global climate. Already the world leaders have introduced electric vehicles and hybrids as a stepping stone towards building a sustainable environment for all of us to live in. As the youth of the community it is our duty to encourage green buildings to reduce the overall impact, not only on the environment but also to the human health.
The constitution of Sri Lanka contains two references regarding the environment. Which are the directives principles of State policy under Chapter 6 and the articles on Fundamental duties in the same chapter. Article 28 (f) states that it is the duty of every Srilankan to protect nature and conserve its riches. But unfortunately, there is no direct reference to the environment in the ‘Fundamental Rights’ chapter of the constitution neither is there an expressly declared ‘right to life’ in the Constitution. I believe that legislations of the country play a huge role in the sustainable development of a country therefore it is high time to develop legislation to protect the environment.
In conclusion,
“Everything that has ever happened in all of human history has happened on that pixel, our ability to live on planet earth to have a future as a civilization. I believe this is a moral issue, it is your time to cease this issue, it is our time to rise again to secure our future”.
References
Legislations
The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Websites
(Adb.org, 2021) <https://www.adb.org/.../354591/sri-lanka-power-2050v2.pdf> accessed 5 March 2021
'Chief Seattle Quotes - Brainyquote' (BrainyQuote, 2021) <https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/chief-seattle-quotes> accessed 5 March 2021
'Climate Change And Renewable Energy Options' (UKEssays.com, 2021) <https://www.ukessays.com/.../climate-change-and-renewable...> accessed 6 March 2021
'Renewable Energy And Climate Change - 1477 Words | Bartleby' (Bartleby.com, 2021) <https://www.bartleby.com/.../Renewable-Energy-And-Climate...> accessed 5 March 2021
'What We Do' (Energy.gov.lk, 2021) <http://www.energy.gov.lk/en/renewable-energy/what-we-do> accessed 6 March 2021
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