Legislators construct policy which results in a global change of ideas. In 2022, the United States passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the nation’s largest piece of federal legislation ever to address climate change. It was USA’s $391 billion insurance against the climate crisis and energy security. However, that has not even scratched the surface of the impact required to combat the crisis.

The recently concluded COP27 ended with a promise to help vulnerable countries against the climate battle. But environmentalists called that “pillow talk”. The real seal of approval came with the “Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan”, an international pledge to “reaffirm the commitment to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.”. The plan gave legal and textual validation to the ethical conversations taking place after the Paris Agreement, putting a “check and balance” of supervision to anyone who violated the terms.

For years, the climate conversation has been mistranslated into a moral and ethical debate instead of the factual danger it presents to biodiversity and lifeforms on the planet. While the future hazard is exacerbated. It also concerningly undermines the present threat that we experience. The media and social culture also present climate action as a communal issue other than the federal and international problem that it is. “Small actions lead to big outcomes,” except here, they don’t. 

That is to say, while societal reinforcement is necessary, it is ignorant and precarious to not hold big corporations responsible. It is impossible to aptly respond to the challenge of the climate crisis without putting a red stamp on instigators of climate depreciation. This includes people, companies, and agencies with large carbon footprints. It is unrealistic to expect any real overturn until the blunders of high-profile individuals are stopped.

Sleek, clean and achievable legislation with judicial ramifications for defaulters and blockage of any legal loopholes is vital to significantly minimise the collateral damages in response to climate change. Without this, with no amount of awareness, social media campaigns and protests will prevail to bring any conclusions. So, citizens should turn to their policymakers to start acting now and deem themselves worthy to be representatives and set a new paradigm of action. Will they be up to the task?

Sources:

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_Reduction_Act_of_2022
2. https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2022/08/12/how-big-a-deal-is-the-inflation-reduction-act
3. https://unfccc.int/news/cop27-reaches-breakthrough-agreement-on-new-loss-and-damage-fund-for-vulnerable-countries
4. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop27
5. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cop27-sharm-el-sheikh-implementation-plan-re-affirms-developing-country-action-to-slow-stop-and-reverse-deforestation-through-the-redd-mechanism-301690290.html
6. https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/majority-of-rich-nations-working-off-plans-to-meet-1-5-deg-celsius-warming-limit-report/amp_articleshow/96031572.cms