Priorities for Climate Change with Thamer Aloui

Thamer Aloui
Eljem, Tunisia

What do you think needs to be a priority in a Global Climate Change Agreement?
Actually, my wife had a strong effect on me because she is an expert in natural resources and the environment. She helped me get around the technical words and to understand the main ecological problems. Thus I think  the main focus, with relation to the global climate, is to decrease pollution in the air, soil and water. Pollution not only affects humans by destroying their respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological systems; it also affects the nature, plants, fruits, vegetables, rivers, ponds, forests, animals, etc, on which they are highly dependent for survival. It is very crucial to control pollution levels as nature, wildlife and human life are precious gifts. This is why it is vital for us to think about the next generation and teach our children how to protect the environment. By inserting lessons in their educational curricula which speak about how to go green, it can be achieved. The best way of protecting our environment from pollution is to prevent pollution at its source - for example, it is a must for factories to be located away from residential premises and for everyone to be prepared for accidents. Only careful planning will enable pollution to be prevented.

The technologies we are using today release different types of pollution on our precious land, water resources and air. Governments across the world are allocating a lot of research funds to develop new technologies that will eliminate or at least reduce the pollution being generated today without causing any hardship to our lifestyles. Even if such technology is developed and implemented, it will create new types of pollution itself. Also anyone who has studied human behavior knows that there is really no end to human desires. If technology to control the pollution in satisfying one desire is discovered and successfully implemented, then we will have another desire that generates much more pollution. Therefore it is impossible to control pollution by developing new technologies to reduce the pollution being caused by existing technologies! As the global human population keeps on increasing, so does pollution. With this in mind, the following actions are essential to control pollution: 1. Limit the population, and 2. Adopt simpler lifestyles that will create less pollution in the first place. The idea that some future technology is going to eliminate pollution, change mankind, empower generations, bring the world together and save the environment is just more of the hyped promise of the technology revolution!