Former US Vice-president Al Gore and the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change.
The citation commended Gore’s strong commitment in taking single-handedly the effort to create worldwide understanding, and lauded the IPCC for being instrumental in creating an informed consensus on the connection between climate change and human activity.
Recognising the dangerous consequences of climate change, the Nobel committee noted how large-scale migration of people could lead to violent conflicts and wars globally. It pointed to the first of the climate wars being seen in the Sahel belt of Africa where nomads and herders are in conflict with farmers due to drought and a shortage of fertile lands.
The IPCC reports have been stressing the fact that countries like India can no longer afford to ignore environmental concerns in the economic race. The poorest nations will be the first to feel the pinch, given their large populations and fewer resources.
Its academic reports were complemented well by Al Gore’s Academy Award winning film An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary on global warming. Sending across the message of the state of “planetary emergency” he stressed the fact that the climate crisis was not a political issue but a moral and spiritual challenge.
In an emotional appeal to viewers, he called the climate change crisis as humanity’s greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level. Rightly, the Nobel panel has recognised the significance of the issue in charting the course of humankind on earth.
As both Gore and IPCC have pointed out, while this is the most serious crisis we' have ever faced, it is also not irreparable. However, there is not much time. The collective will of a species can do much to check the damage, even if reversing the damage will take longer.
While nations and international agreements will play a major role, there is something which everyone of us can do to help in this process. This is not the time to point accusing fingers nor time to make one last grab of what one may think is “rightfully ours”.
To some extent and for some time, the richer nations and people will get away. But ultimately, the human species will be removed from the planet. No nations, no races, no divides, will be recognised.
