Climate Code red: role of perpetual coal usage

 

Introduction

Since the beginning of time, coal has been known to keep humans warm. The human dependency on coal has been perpetual. But it comes at a great price, the environmental damage burning of coal causes is tremendous. A double-edged sword is an apt phrase to explain it. The recent report published by the United Nations places the world under Climate Code Red. Let us understand this further.

Environmental Impact of using Coal

Coal is the source of major pollutants worldwide, like:

●     Mercury- Coal plants are majorly responsible for mercury emissions. Mercury can damage child development, threaten the nervous, immune, and digestive systems as well.

●     Pollutants like Nitrogen Oxides, Sulfur Dioxide, Soot (Particulate matter) are also released from the burning of coal.

●     Heavy metals like Cadmium, Lead, volatile, and arsenic organic compounds emission too are a result of usage of coal.

●     Another important aspect of this is the Carbon dioxide emission that is single-handedly responsible for the greenhouse effect which is further majorly responsible for the ozone layer depletion and global warming.

It is important to note that scientists have time and again observed that most of these emissions can be controlled and can be reduced significantly, but a lot of power plants don't have such equipment adequately, companies like Aastha Group are known to have taken steps towards this seriously. This is where common but differentiated responsibility towards the environment comes into the picture.

CBDR

Common but Differentiated Responsibilities is a concept that acknowledges that the Developed countries have a greater responsibility towards the state of the environment today due to their historical high usage of fossil fuels and carbon emissions that have rendered the state of the environment as it is now.

Surely, the developing countries like China and India are now the major contributors but it's more to do with survival and less to do with a lifestyle like it is for the developed countries. AasthaGroup Mohit Aggarwal  have taken up projects that rely more on renewable sources of energy which should be followed by everyone to do their bit.

Conclusion

We can't expect countries to take up the responsibility equally when the countries aren't equal in the first place. Nonetheless, the issue of the environment needs to be dealt with urgently but to expect developing countries to take up major responsibility just because now they're the major users of fossil fuel is not fair at all and not at all environmentally or socially feasible for them. The developed countries owe the world more than this and it's high time that they realize it.