Election fever is nearing its peak, days before the May 13 elections where an estimated 60 million voters will cast their votes for senators, congressional representatives and local elective officials. Many envision a better future by choosing those who are perceived as the best who will act for the collective interest and be the voice of the people.
But, entrusting our fate solely to those in government is rather unfair both for the public officers and for us, the constituents.
We must learn to believe that the future is in our hands. We have to let go of the practice of complaining and looking for scapegoats for the state we are in, yet still choosing to be ensconced in one’s comfort zone.
Participation, demand for transparency and accountability and the Rule of Law are essential if we have to have the governance that fulfills our vision of a sustainable tomorrow.
The call for a higher level of citizen engagement in decision-making, from local to global, has in fact never been more urgent.
Unknown to many, including perhaps the candidates and the electorate, is the alarming announcement by experts from 50 countries released a few days ago that biodiversity is on unprecedented decline. And, we all should be worried as the future of humanity is at stake.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published its Report that “Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history — and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely.”
It explains that “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”
It referred to these five direct drivers of change in nature with the largest relative global impacts, in descending order, the following: (1) changes in land and sea use; (2) direct exploitation of organisms; (3) climate change; (4) pollution and (5) invasive alien species.
“Key indirect drivers include increased population and per capita consumption; technological innovation, which in some cases has lowered and in other cases increased the damage to nature; and, critically, issues of governance and accountability.”
We can all relate to these drivers of destructive change as we see them happening in our communities and in our oceans.
The Report exhorts for “transformative change” which means “a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values.”
Last March, the UN Environment’s sixth Global Environment Outlook (2019) issued similar finding of a deteriorating global environmental situation. It calls for, among others, urgent cross-sectoral policy actions, through a whole-of-society approach, … to address the challenges of sustainable development.”
If we are to value the health of our people, we have to prioritize the health of ecosystems upon which we all depend for sustenance and survival – now!