Band 6+: Environmental problems are too big for individual countries and individual persons to address. In other words, we have reached the stage where the only way to protect the environment is at an international level. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Climate change is a phenomenon affecting all people in all walks of life, from individual citizens to whole countries and huge multinational companies. Therefore, I disagree with the notion that the only way to address the environmental problems is at international level. I firmly believe that this colossal problem can only be handled if all individuals contribute; all governments take steps at national level and also join hands at an international level.

Undoubtedly, gigantic steps need to be taken, and are being taken at international level. The ‘COP21’ in the Paris in November 2015 is a step in this direction. The aim of ‘COP21’is well known: to reach a universal agreement limiting the rise in global average temperature to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. All nations realizing that climate change is one of the greatest challenges faced by mankind today.

Many steps can be taken at the national level. Governments can make people aware of the benefits of using energy-efficient devices. For instance, this year government of India gave 2 LED bulbs to each government employee at Rs10/- each under the ‘Prakash Path’ scheme. The cost of each bulbs is.

The cost will be recovered by adding a very small amount in each month’s electricity bill for about a year. In about 100 cities, the streetlights have been replaced with LED bulbs, which is a saving of a huge amount of per day. LED bulbs use a tenth of electricity as compared to other bulbs. Once people realise that by using LED bulbs, their electricity bills will reduce, they will be prepared to make the initial heavy investment also. Although the international and national level steps are imperative, it is also a fact that individual action combined with government action can do a lot more to prevent climate change than if individual citizens were not involved. In a world of six billion people, if everyone stopped wasting water, disposed off their rubbish properly, started accepting recycled material and stopped succumbing to consumerism, then it would go a long way in solving a problem of environment.

Summing up, individual citizens cannot sit back and say it’s someone else’s responsibility to protect environment; we must all play our part – individual citizens governments at the national and international levels.