Drought, water restrictions and COP21: Why you should Give a damn

With KwaZulu Natal at the driest it has been in a century and the 2014/2015 summer being the 3^rd driest season for South Africa as a whole since the early 1930s, it’s time we wake up to the very real threat that faces us as a country.

Although as yet, the Weather service cannot accurately report the full effect of the current heat wave, as it stands, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said an estimated 6 500 stand-alone rural communities were currently experiencing water shortages, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West provinces, but that number could increase to 11 000 if the drought continued.

With water restrictions already in place in Johannesburg, what we are faced with across the country is the possibility of a farming crisis, hitting maize in particular, which will affect the poorest households in our country. It will also add to inflation and the cost of food, an increase already strained wallets cannot easily cope with.

With so much to worry about at home, why look towards COP21?

COP21 is the 21st Conference of Parties. It includes 195 nations that meet annually and constitute the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. At these COPs, leaders get together to discuss climate change effects and solutions and try to reach a consensus on how to deal with a problem that is too big for any single nation to tackle alone, but will affect all of us equally.

The scary reality is that as a result of global warming, we will see increased droughts, flooding and irregular weather, which will in turn lead to food shortages and economic breakdowns, particularly in countries like South Africa, which depend on farming as an integral part of their economy. This will affect us all because of its far-reaching consequences, with some of the most radical spin-offs being food shortages and lower living standards as a result.

Scientists believe that the increase in temperature around the globe must be controlled to the best of our ability. As it stands, we are set to reach a global increase in temperature of 1 degrees Celsius by the end of this year. 1C doesn’t seem like much, but to give you an idea of how much of a difference just 1C can make, scientists say that if we hit a 2C increase, which may happen if we do not tackle the issue with enough concern, we will be facing serious challenges to the health of our planet.

I’m not talking about hotter summer days a little more chill in winter, I’m talking about possible irreversible damage to our planet and as a result, a major impact on the way we are able to live our lives, globally. If it doesn’t worry you, it really should. In a BIG way.

The drought in our country should bring home the urgency of the need to act. Not all of it is natural, some blame can be laid on human mismanagement, but we cannot minimise the fact that nature is…well, nature.

So, what is to be done? Well, no one can stop what is happening right now but what we can all do is show our support for the need to take these issues seriously so that we can stop more damage in the long run. There is significant political will to address these issues, but governments all over the world, including SA, need to be shown that they need to push for the best agreements for the benefit of us all.

All over the world, people are taking to the streets to show that the climate and our planet matters – not because they’re hippy peace-lovers, but because they actually enjoy living on a planet that is now facing a crisis because of our actions. We contributed to it and now we have to try to fix it. If we all act and motivate for change, we can make it happen – as the old African proverb says, if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.

Watch the following 2 minute guide to COP21 to understand why this meeting is so important and then visit the website to find a march that you can participate in to show your support.

Alternatively, for a little armchair activism, Tweet using #earthtoparis to show your support.

COP21 runs from Monday 30^th November and will run until Friday 11^th December 2015.