SDG 13 : CLIMATE ACTION
Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13 or Global Goal 13) is to limit and adapt to climate change. It is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The official mission statement of this goal is to "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts".
SDG 13 intends to take urgent action in order to combat climate change and its impacts. Climate change threatens people with increased flooding, extreme heat, increased food and water scarcity, more disease, and economic loss. Human migration and conflict can also be a result.
ISSUE
CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil and gas), which produces heat-trapping gases.
Global Warming on Malaysia
The then Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment in 2000 estimated that Malaysia will experience temperature changes from 0.7 to 2.6 degrees Celsius and precipitation changes ranging from minus 30 per cent to plus 30 per cent. Projections illustrate that Malaysia will become hotter with an average temperature rise per month of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050.
We can expect more rainfall extremes – more intense in the wet season and scarcer in the dry season. This will lead to higher river flows and thus more severe flooding and longer droughts! By 2100 sea levels will rise by 15 to 95 cm thus threatening ever increasing urban populations located on coastal sites. Here, in Sabah and Sarawak we have already felt these changes.
FACTORS
- Cutting down forests (deforestation)
- Greenhouse gases emissions
- Generating power and electricity
- Smoke from the industrial activities
GREENHOUSE GASES
EFFECTS
As greenhouse gas concentrations rise, so does the global surface temperature. Since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one. Nearly all land areas are seeing more hot days and heat waves. This will also lead to global warming and ozone layer depletion.
Climate change is changing water availability, making it scarcer in more regions. Global warming exacerbates water shortages in already water-stressed regions and is leading to an increased risk of agricultural droughts affecting crops, and ecological droughts increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems. Many people now face the threat of not having enough water on a regular basis.
The ocean soaks up most of the heat from global warming. As the ocean warms, its volume increases since water expands as it gets warmer. Melting ice sheets also cause sea levels to rise, threatening coastal and island communities.
Climate change poses risks to the survival of species on land and in the ocean. These risks increase as temperatures climb. Forest fires, extreme weather, and invasive pests and diseases are among many threats related to climate change. Some species will be able to relocate and survive, but others will not.
Climate impacts are already harming health, through air pollution, disease, extreme weather events, pressures on mental health, and increased hunger and poor nutrition in places where people cannot grow or find sufficient food. Changing weather patterns are expanding diseases, and extreme weather events increase deaths and make it difficult for health care systems to keep up.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
The climate change is very concerning as the temperature continues to rise every single year and we as responsible human must take actions to address this issue immediately. Allah said in the Quran from Surah Al-Baqarah verse 11 :
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ ١١
When they are told, “Do not spread corruption in the land,” they reply, “We are only peace-makers!”
And in Surah Ar-Rum verse 41 :
ظَهَرَ ٱلْفَسَادُ فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِى ٱلنَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُم بَعْضَ ٱلَّذِى عَمِلُوا۟ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ ٤١
Corruption has spread on land and sea as a result of what people’s hands have done, so that Allah may cause them to taste ˹the consequences of˺ some of their deeds and perhaps they might return ˹to the Right Path˺.
These are clear commandments from Allah in the Quran to forbid us from causing corruption on the Earth and always try to find solution to live on this Earth and consume all the resources that have been provided by Him responsibly and with sustainability.
ACTIONS TO TAKE
- Walk, cycle or take public transport
- Reduce, reuse, repair & recycle
- Protect forests and plant trees
- Invest in renewable energy
- Switch to an electric vehicle
There are so many other ways to help in addressing this issue, but the most important thing is, we have to start working and contributing ! Even if it is just a little. It is important to remember the equally vital contributions that can be made by private citizens—which is to say, by you. “Change only happens when individuals take action,” says clean energy advocate Aliya Haq. “There’s no other way, if it doesn’t start with people.”
:)
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