It is said that climate change has become a pressing issue in the world, while others are convinced there are other problems that should be prioritised by the global community. From my point of view, since political conflicts are exacerbating and affecting the world population’s sustainability, they deserve more attention from the international community.
On the one hand, climate change negatively impacts the well-being of numerous nations around the world. An increase in the world’s average temperature just by one degree Celsius can significantly raise global sea levels. It occurs during the melting of glaciers at the poles, which contain vast amounts of water. For example, there were numerous casualties after severe floods in Pakistan, where one-third of the country was underwater in 2022. In the long term, even landlocked countries may suffer from climate-induced floods due to heavy rains, considerably worsening the welfare of the global population. Apart from floods, climate change also threatens food security and biodiversity, but its most immediate impact is the increase in natural disasters.
On the other hand, political conflicts pose a threat to the prosperity of human civilisation, since they lead to a humanitarian crisis and may become uncontrollable. When states engage in conflict with each other over political agendas, civilians always suffer. Although international laws exist, they are often violated during wars. Unfortunately, this often leads to genocides, massacres, and other war crimes. For instance, according to the International Criminal Court (ICC), about twenty thousand Ukrainian children were forcibly deported to Russia without international consent. Nowadays, these problems are escalating and indicate that a global humanitarian crisis with large casualties could soon emerge.
To conclude, the influence of global climate change on humanity’s sustainability is a huge problem, which requires urgent attention. However, I tend to believe that political tensions deserve even greater attention, because they are rapidly escalating and pose a direct threat to the security of global communities.