Images of the Venus Transit, the tiny disc visible at 'three 'o clock 'on the face of the sun, vividly indicate how insignificant our very own planet is in the scale of the Universe.
Insignificant - but not to us who live upon it!
For those who do not deny Climate Change we are in a race against time.
Fortunately the computing power of Humankind is increasing, the capacity of sensory devices to monitor the environment as well.
Mathematical models will begin to converge to an irrefutable conclusion that will prove who is right - the Climate Change denialists or those who see our significant part in it?
The focus of World Environment Day is the Green Economy.
“The UN Environment Programme defines the Green Economy as ‘one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.’ Practically speaking, a Green Economy is one whose growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. These investments need to be catalysed and supported by targeted public expenditure, policy reforms and regulation changes.”
And this is the key point:
Green is not simply environmentally Green.
Environmentally Green is more akin to the spirit of Conservation/Preservation that emerged from the 60s and 70s, especially in places with substantial wilderness like South Africa.
Back then it was more the despair of losing the beauty of wild places that inspired these movements.
It was also the increasing pollution in urban areas, the ugliness of uncontrolled waste.
The grime that was ingraining itself in our lives …
Now it is more about sheer survival … Sustainability.
The 'interconnectedness of things' is no longer a spiritual hippie perspective but a grim reality emerging.
Environmental Green will not survive in political turmoil, it will not survive in areas where human rights are abused, it is all a matter of time before the malignancy of such places bursts forth and brings about destruction.
We have countless examples of such, the daily killings in Syria just an example of one of the most current visible ones.
The requirement of Green is in Everything, each minuscule cog being part of yet a larger cog, ultimately all being part of a Giant Green Wheel.
The Occupy movements, for example, are just a manifestation of the discord that arises when deeper down banking institutions have compromised the seismic equilibriums in society.
Human trafficking, the denial of women rights, child slavery in cocoa plantations, blood diamonds … these are all forces against Sustainability.
We, ourselves, may be a mere speck against our Sun, just like Venus …
But for us, we are significant, and so too the Planet we live on.
