One major component of the environmental movement is to raise awareness and educate the public about the ecological hazards we face today. With the rise in new media, environmental issues have taken on an increased profile. There have been global events such as Earth Hour and Live Earth concerts which purport to raise awareness and actions for environmental causes. Critics bemoan the effectiveness of saving electricity for an hour, and are skeptical about whether concerts can induce actions to save the Earth. However, they miss the point of the environmental movement completely. The aim of such events is to raise awareness about the environment in the general public, which helps to awaken the long-dormant environmental conscience in them which would serve as a precursor to active environmental conservation, rendering the cause less of a futility. Part of the environmental movement is to educate the public, and this can be seen through the release of documentaries such as "An Inconvenient Truth", "How many people can live on Planet Earth?" and "Dark Secrets". These documentaries educate the public about the scientific basis of climate change and people are more aware of the pernicious threats confronting the environment. A survey done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2008 showed that there are now 4 billion people worldwide aware of climate change, a significant increase from only 1 billion people a decade ago. This clearly proves that the environmental movement is far from losing its focus; rather, efforts to raise awareness have been successful.
Another component of the environmental movement is the harnessing of science and technology to reduce our reliance on oil and fossil fuels. Critics argue that such efforts have lost its focus because the results are minimal and not widespread. However, as aforementioned, the real focus of the green movement is to slowly reduce our exploitation of the Earth, which is greatly aided by science and technology. The advent of science and technology has led to unprecedented improvements in environmentally friendly science, rendering the cause more robust and feasible. Researchers in a company called LS9 have created genes which allow bacteria to produce diesel fuels. They have also engineered micro-organisms which can convert sunlight and water into diesel. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E), on the other hand, has manufactured highly-efficient solar panels with increased energy output of up to 30% or more. Such is the promise of technology, poised to resolve the environmental problems and carry the environmental cause well into the twenty-first century. The focus of slowly saving the environment is clearly not lost.
Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are also part of the green movement, and play a significant role in reducing greenhouse emissions. In recent years, many MNCs have started aligning their commercial goals with that of environmentalism. Many MNCs realize that going green might be more cost-effective and efficient in the long run, and are able to use it to garner a positive business reputation at the same time. However, critics lament that these corporations are simply capitalizing on the green movement to increase their revenue and have no real intention of saving the environment. Slapping green labels on their products are just means to increase their sales. While this may be true, it is myopic to overlook contributions by many major companies who have genuine intentions to save the environment. General Electric (GE), a large American engineering firm, already has a thriving wind-turbine business and is investing in solar-energy businesses too. Shell and BP, two of the world's largest oil companies, are sponsoring academic researchers as well as new firms with bright ideas, as is DuPoint, one of the world's largest chemical company. Concomitantly, Wal-Mart is demanding greener practices from its Chinese suppliers and is advising them on greener alternatives. More recently, GM and Nissan have released their long-awaited green electric cars, the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt and the all-electric Nissan Leaf. All these MNCs mentioned have the moral calling to play their part in saving the environment. Similarly, their focus is to reduce ecological damages slowly but gradually, and it is laudable that they have been successful in keeping to this focus amid plans to increase their business revenue.
The government of every country is an important component of the green movement today. Many countries today are making significant efforts to keep to the focus of the environmental movement, which is to reduce our reliance on oil and fossil fuels, which thus leads to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Brazil has the world's second largest and most economically honest biofuel industry, which currently produces 40% of the energy consumed by its cars and will soon supply 15% of electricity through through the burning of sugarcane wastes. Many Scandinavian countries such as Norway, Sweden and Switzerland are adopting hydroelectricity as one of their main sources of energy. Notably, Norway has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030. However, critics are skeptical about whether the focus of the green movement is kept because such initiatives are merely adopted by developed countries and not developing countries who lack the financial abilities to do so. While this is generally true today, we must not overlook help rendered by developed countries to help developing countries to develop in an environmentally friendly way. Singapore has collaborated with China to build an eco-city in the northern part of Tianjin. Similarly, there are also plans between Singapore and India to build a highly efficient city in the most environmentally friendly way. The key is that the environment movement has not lost its focus; developed nations have the expertise to be environmentally friendly and in time to come, help will be rendered to developing nations so as to progress economically while saving the environment.
Finally, the global community has an equally important role in saving the environment, through the passing of legislation and protocols to conform people to saving the environment. Critics have pointed out though, that international forums such as the Copenhagen Summit in 2009 are perfunctory without any real actions taken to save the Earth. They argue that government officials come together as a form of obligation and have no real intention of saving the environment. While this is generally true in the case of the Copenhagen Summit, it is myopic to overlook successful initiatives such as the Montreal Protocol in 1992 which has reduced CFC emissions drastically. More recently, President Barack Obama has called for an international forum involving the 17 member states emitting more than 80% of the world's greenhouse gases. Such efforts show that the focus of the environmental movement is still kept. Politicians have the true intent of saving the environment, albeit gradually.
To conclude, the focus of the green movement to raise awareness and save the environment in slow measured steps is prevalent in today's society. As a whole, we are aware of the ecological hazards and the possibility of an environmental apocalypse if we do not start taking actions to conserve our planet. It is incontrovertible that some green movements have other intentions, but on the whole, we realize that the real focus is to save the environment.
Note: This essay was written during the Mid-year examinations under timed conditions, and was awarded a distinction grade of 80%.
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