I went out for lunch today. I walked in the blazing midday sun. Beads of sweat drained from my sun tanned forehead. The air condition in the food shop struggles to keep the room cool. I think to myself that imagine we are in the rainy season now. What will happen in the dry season? I was chatting with a friend and he asked if this was climate change and I agreed.
And as God would have it, I was scrolling through facebook and came across an art and writing challenge where the topic is Perspectives of Trinidad and Tobago on the Just Transition. The message from God was clear, this is your chance to make a difference. According to the ILO website, a Just Transition involves maximizing the social and economic opportunities of climate action, while minimizing and carefully managing any challenges. I decided to lend my voice to this effort by doing what I am good at, blogging. I decided to be creative with the title and spell out sun as society united now.
One way I imagine progress being made is by each of us doing what we can. Our voices and actions together will create momentum that will get the attention of the decision makers. There is a trini saying that goes "stone in water doh know when sun hot" and I think that will be our biggest challenge. How do we get the powerful persons in society who we imagine are insulated from the current effects of climate change to join the movement and take action now.
Climate change is real, it is one of our big problems and we have to act now. We need easily achievable consensus and action that starts from you and me and the home to the community to the country to the world. We need a united front to take on the battle of climate change. We should not let it reach the point where it becomes burn to learn. It certainly feels like that is happening though because I was surely burning in the sun today. The bright side though is that if we act right now then future generations would not have to burn to learn.
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