Climate Change and the Contribution of the World Wide Fund for Nature - Research Paper Example

Climate change and the contribution of World Wide Fund for Nature Name of Student Name of Professor Institution Course Title Date of Submission The modern generation has come up with several scientific innovations that have caused adverse negative effects on both the weather and climatic patterns of various parts of the world (Judith, 1993). Climate change has been a major issue of concern worldwide. What is climate change? Climate change can be explained as an evident and durable change in the patterns of the weather. The changes can often range from several decades to thousands of years. The change in the weather and climatic patterns described above can be caused by several factors. Bains, Norris, Corfield and Faul (2000) argue that the factors that cause climate change include changes in solar radiation, oceanic movements and processes, volcanic eruptions, biotic processes and human activities among other factors. For the past few years, scientists have made efforts to curb climate change which is believed to have long term effects such as global warming. To make the struggles a success, several organizations, industries and companies have come together and contributed in one way or another in curbing this rising menace. Therefore, this assignment will choose one advocacy organization that has made a contribution to debate on climate change. The organization that will be chosen in this case is the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). This assignment will assess the connection between the values and interests of the WWF. The paper will also WWF’s advocacy position in its contribution to the debate on climate change. Evidently, just like other international organizations that play an important role in eliminating climate change, the WWF uses science in its plan to curb climate change. Thus, this paper will assess the organization’s use of science in its fight against climate change. Additionally, this paper will give opinions whether or not it supports the views and opinions of the World Wide Fund for Nature. The WWF as an organization has contributed in several ways towards the debate on climate change. To begin with, the organization has contributed to the debate on climate change by coming up with several publications. These publications include the “Power Forward: Why the World’s Largest Companies Are Investing in Renewable Energy” publication of 2013, “Clean Economy, Living Planet: The Race to the Top of the Global Cleantech Manufacturing” publication of 2012, the “Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning for Mangrove Systems” publication and the “Planning Development in a Carbon Constrained World” publication of 2011 among other several publications. These publications have contributed in one way or another towards the struggle of eradicating the possible risks faced by climate change. The WWF has also contributed towards the debate on climate change by fundraising and providing grants to other small non-governmental organizations in order to enhance their fight to eradicate climate change. As a matter of fact, these funds provided by WWF have helped a great deal in enabling campaigns held across the world on environmental conservation and its contribution towards climate change. The WWF has also contributed towards the debate on climate change by working hand in hand with governments as a collaborator and as a lobbyist. Therefore this has forced the governments to step up in their struggle to eradicate the possible causative factors of climate change especially the human activities. The other contribution of the WWF towards the debate on climate change is by having its management make appearances in the media. In 2012, the Chief Executive of WWF-UK, David Nussbaum made a media appearance in the UK saying that “The government must reaffirm its commitment to tackling climate change and prioritize renewable and energy efficiency”. Evidently, this statement indicates the organizations contribution towards eradicating factors that cause climate change. The World Wide Fund for Nature organization was established with a major goal of completely eradicating the possible effects of climate change. That is to say, one of the aims of the organization is to develop a very low economy of carbon by the year 2050. Bearing in mind that most combustions that occur in the world include carbon, its adverse effects are evident. Carbon when burnt emits very toxic gases such as carbon II oxide and carbon IV oxide. Edwards, Geoffrey Miller and Clark (cited in Changing the atmosphere: expert knowledge and environmental governance, 2001) argue that these gases interfere with the ozone layer thus causing climate change. It should be known that the continuous use of carbon as a means of combustion is unavoidable. This is evident in the advancement in technology that continues to bring in new automobiles day in day out that emit toxic carbon related gases. Thus, one major aim of the WWF organization is to reduce the amount of carbon usage in the global market. Once this is done, evidently, all efforts will have been put in place to keep global warming at bay, let us say approximately average temperatures of below 1.5 degrees centigrade (McKibben, 2011). The other aim of the WWF organization in its contribution to the debate on climate change is emphasizing on low carbon development and climate policy. Apart from that, the organization also focuses on climate finance, forests, climate itself and clean and smart energy. With this in mind, the organization will be able to emphasize on the eradication of the factors that lead to climate change. Wagner and Frederic (2009) argue that human activities are the major causative factors of climate change in the modern generation. As a matter of fact, the WWF looks forward to tame human beings into being environment friendly people with the responsibility of the environment in mind. The World Wide Fund for Nature’s contribution to the debate on climate change is also evident in the objectives and goals of the organization. Just like other global organizations with the aim of eradicating the long term effect of climate change that is global warming, the WWF focuses on having a world that will be climate-safe in future. One of the objectives of the WWF organization is to advocate for a new international agreement of climate among all nations and organizations. The WWF looks forward to bringing forth an international climate agreement that will be just and binding the whole human population in the world. This is a very important objective of the organization as it will help achieve the dreams of having an environment that was initially climate-safe. The other objective of the WWF organization is to enhance and promote efficiency of energy in the world. As earlier mentioned, carbon usage has a very significant contribution to the climate change witnessed in the world today. Therefore, the organization has realized that the fastest and most effective way of promoting efficiency of energy use is by reducing the emissions of carbon gases such as carbon II oxide and carbon IV oxide. One way of making this dream come true is by encouraging the manufacture of automobiles that do not emit carbon gases. Use of alternative sources of energy such as biogas and electricity is another way of helping the eradication of carbon emissions in the modern generation. The other objective of the WWF organization in its contribution to the debate on climate change is to promote the use of renewable sources of energy such as wind, geothermal energy and solar energy. These sources of energy are readily available and are affordable as compared to electricity which cannot be afforded by a good number of the global human population especially those living under the poverty line. Prevention of greenhouse emissions of gases especially from human activities such as deforestation is the other objective of the WWF organization. Deforestation activities presently have contributed greatly towards climate change. In fact, deforestation is has been responsible for approximately 20% of all the emissions witnessed in the world today. Therefore, in its quest to contribute to the debate on climate change, the WWF organization has put in place measures of preventing gaseous emissions that would be caused by human activities, particularly, deforestation. The other objective of the WWF organization in contribution to the debate on climate change is to promote and develop strategies that would enhance or lead to people and the global human population at large adapting to climate change. One of the major outcomes of this is that it will protect people who are known to be vulnerable. This objective will also help protect and safeguard the systems that are known to be exposed. The WWF as an organization values several aspects in the environment. One of the aspects that are valued by the organization is the endangered animal species. This has made the organization come up with ways and means of protecting the endangered animal species such as rhinos among other animals. Besides, the organization also values the bio diversity of the world. That is the reason why it fights for the protection and conservation of the natural content of the environment. The organization also shows value for the global climate as it has come up with several measures of eradicating possible causative factors that might lead to change or variations in the global climate. Nevertheless, there is no significant difference between the values and interests of the organization. Bearing in mind the WWF’s values, its interests are more or less similar. Some of the interests of the organization are to promote an environment that is free from carbon emissions. In relation to climate change, the World Wide Fund for Nature views several aspects as very significant in relation to climate change and that the aspects should be put on the fore front when resolving matters relating to climate change. To start with, one of the aspects that the organization cherishes in relation to climate change is the conservation of the world’s biological diversity. This aspect is very important in the modern generation as it will help in one way or the other reduce the rate at which climate change occurs in the world today. Moreover, this aspect is supported by science as scientists have come up with measures of promoting biodiversity such as abolition of deforestation and forestation among other measures. The other aspect that is important for the WWF organization in relation to climate change is the use of renewable natural sources of energy that are sustainable and affordable to the common man. This aspect is very important in the fight to eradicate the possible causes of climate change. As witnessed in the modern generation, most people use sources of energy such as firewood and charcoal as sources of energy. These sources have very adverse effects as they release carbon gases that are destructive to the ozone layer thus leading to climate change. Science supports the aspect of using renewable energy sources as it has come up with alternative sources of energy such as solar energy, geothermal energy and wind among others. In fact, science has come up with technology that enables harnessing of energy from these three sources and thus reducing carbon gas emissions that could lead to changes in climate (William, 2005). Another significant aspect to the WWF organization in relation to climate change is the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption of resources. In the words of Spracklen et al (2008), air pollution is a particular way that leads to the depletion of the ozone layer. Pollution such as aerosols, chlorofluorocarbons and volcanic eruptions among others contribute greatly towards climate change. Thus, the reduction of air pollution is very important to WWF as this will help in the reduction of climate change. This aspect of reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption is supported by science. Susan, Plattner, Reto, and Friedlingstein (Cited in "Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions”, 2009) indicate that science has come up with improved measures of reconverting the gaseous emissions from automobiles and factories into useful resources. Science has also come up with filters in factory chimneys that prevent the emission of toxic carbon gases to the environment. As an organization that aims at contributing in one way or another to the debate on climate change, the World Wide Fund for Nature organization has also used science to support its values and interests that aim at eradicating climate change. To begin with, the WWF organization has used science in its struggle to reduce the amount of carbon IV oxide emissions in the atmosphere. The organization has promoted this by encouraging the manufacture of automobiles that do not emit a lot of carbon IV oxide in the atmosphere. The WWF organization has also used science in the promotion of the efficiency of energy so as to eradicate possible effects of climate change such as global warming. To enable the promotion of energy efficiency, the WWF organization has emphasized on the use of renewable sources of energy such as wind, solar and geothermal power. Science is very important in the conversion of wind, solar and geothermal power into energy. Thus, it will be very important to indicate the influence of science to the World Wide Fund for Nature in its quest to contribute to the debate on global climate change. In publications such as the “Power Forward: Why the World’s Largest Companies Are Investing in Renewable Energy” publication of 2013, “Clean Economy, Living Planet: The Race to the Top of the Global Cleantech Manufacturing” publication of 2012, the “Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning for Mangrove Systems” publication and the “Planning Development in a Carbon Constrained World” publication of 2011, the WWF’s commitment to contributing to the debate on climate change is very evident. In these publications, the organization’s stands against the human activities that cause climate change are evident. The organization opposes other organizations and industries that promote the release of toxic carbon gases in to the environment. The other aspect that is evident in these publications is the step that the organization takes in its quest by emphasizing on the use of renewable sources of energy such as solar energy and wind to curb the release of carbon gases in to the atmosphere. As a lover of the environment and its daily activities, support for the World Wide Fund for Nature is very critical. As a matter of fact, I stand to provide support for the organization in their struggle to eradicate all the factors that lead to climate change. Human beings should be warned against serious damage to the environment through air pollution as this is a major factor that leads to climate change by depleting the ozone layer. (Svensmark, Bondo and Svensmark, 2009). In conclusion, it is evident that climate change is becoming an issue of global concern. Therefore, more international organizations, both governmental and non-governmental should step up in their struggles to protect the environment. Kasting and Seifert (2002) argue that climate change has long term effects such as global warming. Global warming is very dangerous and destructive to human life and this should be prevented by all means. Human activities such as deforestation, air pollution and use of automobiles that emit carbon gases are the major causes of climate change. Therefore, alternatives should be used in order to curb the looming danger of global warming. References Bains, S.; Norris, R.D.; Corfield, R.M.; Faul, K.L. (2000). "Termination of global warmth at the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary through productivity feedback". Nature 407 (6801): 171–4. Edwards, Paul Geoffrey; Miller, Clark A. (2001). Changing the atmosphere: expert knowledge And environmental governance. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Judith T. Parrish (1993). "Climate of the Supercontinent Pangea". Chemical Geology 101 (2): 215–233 Kasting JF, Seifert JL (2002). "Life and the evolution of Earth's atmosphere" Science 296:1066- 1068. McKibben, Bill (2011). The Global Warming Reader. New York: OR Books Spracklen. D. et al., (2008). "Boreal forests, aerosols and the impacts on clouds and climate" Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. A, 366, pp. 4613–4626. Susan Solomon, Gian-Kasper Plattner, Reto Knutti, and Pierre Friedlingstein (2009). "Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) 106 (6): 1704–9. Svensmark H, Bondo T, Svensmark J (2009). "Cosmic ray decreases affect atmospheric aerosols and clouds". Geophys. Res. Lett. 36 (15): L15101. Wagner, Frederic H., (2009) Climate Change in Western North America: Evidence and Environmental Effects William F. Ruddiman (2005). Plows, plagues, and petroleum: how humans took control of climate. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. Read More