"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
It is with this spirit that 165 "thoughtful, committed citizens" came together at the Queen's Park Savannah for the T&T People's Climate March on September 21, 2014, organised by IAMovement. If it were a Carnival fete it would have been a big buss, but for an assembly of Trinidadian and Tobagonian environmentalists, not bad.
The T&T People's Climate March was part of a larger whole, simply called the "People's Climate March." On the same day about 670,000 people marched in 2,700 locations around the world. The march was called to influence global leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Summit. The numbers of global protestors stand in no relation to what is the rapid climate change challenge.
A quick calculation on the back of a napkin shows that the protesters amount to a minute 0.000957142857 per cent of the seven-billion-strong global population. This tiny amount of protesters managed to dominate news headlines and live-feeds for a 24-hour period.
On social media alone, about 600 million people saw pictures or articles about the global marches around the world. On my own social media page, www.papaboisconservation.org, I was able to track that some 50,000 people saw at least one of the posts related to the march on the Savannah.
The T&T march nearly did not happen. It was organised only a few weeks before. Jonathan and Daniel Barcant, two brothers in their twenties, wanted to show solidarity with the global marchers, but they could not find any local organisers. I'm glad Jonathan and Daniel stepped up to the plate, because we need more young environmental leaders in T&T.
Meanwhile, at the UN Climate Change Summit, which the marchers meant to influence, political leaders made great speeches. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said :"Leaders are not here to talk but to make history." Ban said the goal of the summit is: "to mobilise political will for a universal and meaningful climate agreement next year in Paris; and second, to generate ambitious steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen resilience."
US President Obama pointed out that China is now the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, and that it needs to do more to reduce emissions. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who seems nearly a fixture at important environmental meetings, told leaders, "you can make history or you will be vilified."
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar made some climate announcements as well. One was that the government would continue to pursue CNG-equipped gas stations and conversion for vehicles. This was met with a yawn and "where-have-we heard-this-before" by most observers in T&T.
Not to mention that CNG vehicles are a bit outdated in the age of hybrids and electric vehicles. Instead of spending money on CNG-equipped stations, spend it on infrastructure for electric car charging ports. Removal of VAT and Motor Vehicle Tax on hybrid-vehicles and electric vehicles were also announced. That is the way to go, but if the fuel subsidy stays in place then there is no financial incentive to buy these expensive vehicles.
Much more exciting was the announcement that within three months legislation for a feed-in tariff will be presented. That means the third quarter of December. It would be a good Christmas gift for the nation. What this means is that T&TEC customers will be able to generate their own renewable electricity and sell the excess back to the utility.
How this will work is still unclear. It will take changes to present legislation that forbids just this. More structurally, it is unclear how renewable energy will compete with the wasteful electricity subsidies. There are a lot of questions. What can have a huge impact is the announcement that the industrial sector will be undertaking energy audits to become more efficient. Industry is the largest energy user in T&T. More efficiency also means less wastage. Do we hear dollar bills crinkling in our pockets?
T&T is the world's second highest per capita producer of CO2. If the Prime Minister is serious about tackling this problem, it will take dedication, planning and bold leadership. T&T is expected to show results at the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris.