The green emancipation
In the beginning when God created the Heavens and the earth, I believe God being a perfect God created a perfect world free from environmental pollution and contamination. The air was fresh, water bodies pure and utmost peace engulfing the world. In Genesis 1:31, it is written “God saw all that He had made and it was very good” If God sees His handiwork as very good then it is ultimately good because He is the Alpha and Omega.
God handed the world to man and made him ruler of everything in it but little by little mankind is destroying the world which was intact at the time of creation. In the name of modernisation man is destroying the world with sophisticated technological advanced processes in production. The world of modernisation has produced very huge businesses, reduced the space of time, forged globalisation, created business convenience for both customers and companies, churned out top quality products, embarked on space missions and real progressive development in technology. Despite this applausive developments the world is witnessing mercurial destruction of the environment which has made the world a bit unconducive to stay.
The concept of Green Emancipation is to use communication channels, adopt cognitive methods and behavioural prognosis to evaluate man’s understanding, value and weighting on environmental degradation; generally free the mind from this mental state of environmental ignorance and abhorrence; change in the mental and thought processes of individuals; shift in policy and cultural philosophy of organisations; governments embracing green environment as core part of national development. Issues of depletion of ozone layer, global warming, melting of ice, deforestation have become very topical issues but these unfortunate trends still persist due to the general lukewarm attitude towards environmental degradations. Although some individuals, countries and international organisations have done extensive work on environmental degradation the general negative attitude is minimising the impact of these works globally.
The former Vice President of the United States of America, Albert Arnold Gore Jr has devoted many years of his life and career on dangers and solutions to climate change. He was the founder and chairman of the Climate Reality Project which sought to find solutions to climate crises. Al Gore was the author of best-selling books such as Inconvenient Truth, Earth in the Balance, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve Climate Crises to deal with a shift in the natural climatic order. Former Vice President Al Gore’s mission was to inform the world of the dangers of climatic change. As far back as he was vice president he espoused his vision on the production of low-carbon technologies for a new generation of vehicles to replace internal combustion engines. Today the world is embracing electric vehicles to deal with emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (N2O) which creates the greenhouse effect. The Earth’s atmosphere contain greenhouse gases which traps heat to make the earth warm and habitable. This greenhouse gas is expected to be at an appreciable or tolerance level. When there is too much emission of CO2, CO, N2o, the atmosphere traps more heat which should have otherwise escaped to space. This dilapidating factor is what is ernomously contributing to global warming and needs urgent attention.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) that established the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change created the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the first major international agreement on climate disorder which was becoming a crisis. The purpose of this important international agreement was to encourage industrialised countries particularly to reduce greenhouse gases which was leading to global warming, melting of ice and depletion of the ozone layer. According to Industry Week (IW) 54 million motor vehicles were produced worldwide in 1997. Coupled with the vehicles that were already in existence, emission of greenhouses gases from manufacturing companies, burning of fossil fuel (a very big contributor to greenhouse gases) the climatic disorder needed serious intervention. As such the Kyoto Agreement although came a bit late, was very appropriate in addressing the climatic issues. The problem with the Kyoto Agreement was that it was not enforced till 2005, about an eight year gap between the enactment and enforcement which had the potential of worsening the situation further. The Kyoto agreement did not meet its target because of the absence of key countries like USA and China at the initial stages, weak enforcement mechanism, economic implications and low commitments of participating countries.
The Paris Accord in 2015 was adopted to address the challenges of the Kyoto agreement. Unlike the Kyoto agreement which focused more on developed countries the Paris Accord encouraged a more global participation which included both developed and developing countries. The Paris Accord also adopted a more robust and ambitious goal, setting an average global temperature of less than 2 degrees Celsius. The Paris Accord also provided some kind of flexibility since it allowed countries to develop their own plan to reduce emission, review and update their plans every five years. According to a 2024 report by Statista, although countries like Nigeria, Morocco, Ethiopia, Kenya, Costa Rica and Nepal are on track to meet the 1.5
, none of the larger industrialised countries are currently on track to meet the goal. According to the report, scientist believe that even global warming of 2 will raise sea level by 56 centimetres, increase heat days by 25 per cent, threaten drought periods of an average of four months per year. A global warming of 3 believed to lead to massive disruption of the ecosystem, food production and weather patterns.
Despite these international agreements on climate change we are still faced with the harsh realities of global warming and climate change. According to the US Geological survey about 71 per cent of the earth’s surface is covered by water and the oceans hold 96.5 per cent of the earth’s water. The implication is that dramatic rise in sea level can submerge the whole land mass and make man extinct. The world is experiencing floods more than ever before. In a recent report by CNN Bolivia experienced intense deadly flooding which threatened the country’s agriculture and food supply. The flood killed at least 55 people and 590,000 families were affected, Graves were exhumed by the torrential downpour. These are very worrying signs of climate change which the former President of USA, Al Gore over the years has used many platforms to address.
In unequivocal terms a country that is considered to have a green environment can be very competitive in attracting tourists compared with other destinations. According to the Regional Brand (GH-RBI) Index Report 2023 by the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG), a region with rich, diverse natural environment, green spaces can create unique attractive settings distinct from other destinations and appeal to both internal and foreign tourists. This presupposes that investment in climate change in promoting or sustaining a green environment can reciprocate in substantial revenue to the country.
In the context of climatic change posing dangers and cost to the world if substantial efforts are not done and in contrary the substantial revenue it can generate to a country through green environmental programmes, it is very important that concepts and models are adopted to fight climate change. Social Marketing, a concept that was developed by Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman in 1971 applied the principles of commercial marketing which has been very successful with social problems in bringing about social and behavioural change. Social Marketing has been used successfully in areas such as vaccinations, oral dehydration therapy, vaccination, drug abuse, drunk driving, gun violence, recycling, participation in voting etc. The concept of social marketing is a potent force in fighting climate change through awareness creation, reinforcing interest and resultant effect of attitudinal change. Although this concept adopts the various elements of the marketing mix, the heartbeat of this concept is the art of promotion which sets to bring about the physical and emotional appreciation of the social problem. Former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth” on climate change which won an Oscar can be adapted for different countries based on culture; language, belief, perceptions, lifestyle. More of such documentaries, advertisements, infomercials with underlying research works are essential in fighting climate change. It is my fervent prayer that the World will listen again and again to Al Gore who has spent over 40 years of his life in fighting climate change and make the world a better place.
It is also very imperative that professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (a very renowned and respected marketing professional body) develop marketing models to help governments fight climate change.
THE EARTH IS ALL THAT WE HAVE, LET US PROTECT IT
I dedicate this article to the Former Vice President of USA, Al Gore whose works, drive and passion on climate change inspired me to write this article as my contribution in fighting climate change
The writer is a Chartered Marketer with about 25 years experience in industry, media and academia.
Email: alfredk001@yahoo. com
BY ALFRED KOOMSON
