Current Crisis...global warming!

          The time is now! Our world is increasingly getting hotter creating devastating effects to the ecosystem. For too long have we neglected the fact that the earth is a place where life is abundant due to its delicate ecological balance. The time when the Industrial Revolution has to account for its actions is finally here! There is no need to worry though, for we currently posses all the knowledge and technology to effectively address global warming. As a fellow student, I invite you to notice what is happening on a global scale in regards to this issue. Though there are many things already being done, it is not enough! I believe that the best way to attack this is through collaboration. I am a Mexican citizen studying in the U.S. and I see that there are opportunities to be taken advantage of relating to this very important matter.             
    The Clean Development Mechanism is an instrument under the Kyoto Protocol -an agreement among more than 160 nations to limit their greenhouse emissions- which is intended to combat the climate change crisis. This instrument is the answer that investors in industrialized countries were looking for! Thanks to the CDM, investors can now help mitigate global warming while still satisfying their top priority: earning profits! Emission reduction finally makes “good business sense.” See, under the Clean Development Mechanism, industrialized countries such as the U.S., can look towards their counterparts, non-industrialized countries, and find investment opportunities. Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialized nations receive emission credits which cap the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted. The punch line is this; investors can launch emission reduction projects in non-industrialized countries in return for emission reduction credits. Emission reduction credits represent the legal ability to emit regulated pollutants in the amount specified when granted the credits; these may be sold, leased, banked for future use, or traded.           
    The U.K. is already taking advantage of this opportunity! The U.K. and Mexico, in collaboration with two other organizations, are establishing the first state strategy to deal with climate change (in the state of Veracruz). Why let the U.K. realize the profits of potential emission reduction projects?           
    We are faced here with a new trend. We must embrace it and take advantage of the opportunities at hand. Not only will this create a less-polluted environment, but it will also yield gains in the future as others hurry to catch up. Only one question arises in light of this: Are we going to be the ones catching up, or will we continue to be the INDUSTRY LEADERS we are now? Currently the U.S has not yet ratified the Kyoto Protocol. One of the reasons for this is largely because the U.S. believes this would give China an unfair advantage in the production and manufacturing industries.  At the state level though, the U.S. is already responding to the fight against climate change. Currently, both the east and west coasts are coming together for the development of regional targets for reducing greenhouse gases. These agreements were labeled the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative, respectively. At the university level, not only is the U.S. responding, but we are also seeing Mexican universities taking action! It is through this medium that I believe we as students can step up to the plate and play an important role in the climate change crisis. In the U.S., Yale University is the only university in the states that has committed to a long-term strategy combating global warming. It plans to reduce emission gases 10% below 1990 levels by 2020. Here are some of the measures that Yale has taken to achieve its goals:
        Ø      Created an office of Sustainability
        Ø      Created a strategy including:
                    a) use of natural resources
                    b) systems and processes, and
                    c)culture
        Ø      Yale has also committed itself to switch its current consumption of 30% recycled paper to 100% by 2008.
        Ø      Yale also recommended use of Energy Star lighting. (This is a G.E. line of products geared towards energy conservation).             

Yale University believes in the interconnectedness of units which ultimately results in a stronger more concrete plan of action! We can appreciate this by the way Yale implements an educational process that involves teachers, staff, students, and curriculum.           

    Another university that created a benchmark in the subject matter –global warming- was Cornell University. This university formed a student led movement at colleges and universities across the U.S. called Kyoto Now! Sound familiar? It should, because this movement reflects the Kyoto Protocol. It is intended to persuade America’s universities to make the commitment of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. There are already youth organizations in the U.S. and Canada, through Kyoto Now! banding together to win 100% clean energy policies at their schools.           
    Like Kyoto Now!, there are countless other youth oriented organizations taking on the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At least through one of these organizations, Mexico’s higher education systems have demonstrated their interest and willingness to do their part. The well-known Monterrey TEC has set up a Sustainable Social Development Institute geared towards contributing to a more efficient and direct way to community and social development through knowledge transfer. Based in Mexico City, it already fosters more than 800 people and counting. This translates to the growing popularity in sustainability education.           
    If there is anywhere that should concentrate on changing current behavior and outlook towards the environment is within the educational systems. Higher education plays an important role in directing the future of a society for they prepare the leaders of tomorrow. Educating students about global warming and greenhouse gases should not be harder than teaching any student college Algebra. Environmental well being has the potential not only to be a new trend, but also a way of life!           
    Global Warming is a serious problem. We can no longer turn our heads and look the other way on this issue. It is a proven fact that global warming is real, and that we have been contributors to its diffusion. The time to act is now! Countries world-wide have already begun to include global warming in their agendas. I believe that Mexico and the U.S. can find in each other the means to achieving individual agendas while still making the world a cleaner place.