Eighteen months ago a black cloud covered the sky of Cairo. The people who saw it were confused. In the absence of scientific explanation, rumors and jokes were rife. After two weeks, the sky became clear and people could see the sun again. Surprisingly, nobody ever explained what happened or what harm was done.
A couple of months ago, the UN issued a report on the black cloud of smoke that covered parts of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia. The report stated that the cloud would affect agriculture and animals as well as negatively influencing rainfall and human health.
The report called the phenomenon ‘the brown cloud’. It was studied to assess its impact on present and future human life. It must be similar to the clouds of Jeddah and Riyadh that carry poisonous gas and pollution. The report states that the brown cloud may move to the other hemisphere within a week, inflicting great damage to farms, animals, altering patterns of rainfalls and causing floods. Covering the sun in 10 percent of the planet will harm agricultural production, result in droughts and cause sea levels to rise.
Both the phenomenon and the UN report coincided with the Johannesburg Earth Summit. The conference is part of an effort begun in Rio ten years ago. Sponsored by the UN, it seeks to raise awareness of environmental issues. It started in Brazil and had a limited success in raising international attention and support for protecting the environment. The summit drifted away from environmental issues and focused on issues such as development, aid to poor nations, health, debt and commercial exchange. In the absence of an agreed timetable, the outcome will likely not go beyond the vague promises made in Rio. The UN secretary-general as usual uttered elegant words. No doubt his words conceal problems as he speaks about sustainable development which threatens the environment. Kofi Annan knows that rich nations, and in particular the US, are offering no new commitments other than the pledges made at Rio Summit. Meanwhile, the planet’s population has increased and 1 in 4 exist on $1 a day.
Annan refers to the environmentalist movements as the collective conscience of the world. In the US alone, the number exceeds 2 million. The Arab world, with the exception of one or two nations, has no environmentalist groups although they are sorely needed. In Saudi Arabia there is one association. Government support and scrutiny can avoid doubts about the financial backing of such groups.
The Herald Tribune predicted that the Johannesburg Summit would face the same objections and demonstrations as occurred in Europe and USA. But the demonstrations expressed anger that the USA gave the impression that it would commit to no collective plan that protects the planet if it contradicts with the US lifestyle. Incidentally, this was the view of Bush Senior, in Kyoto in 1989.
Most people believe the delegations to the Johannesburg Summit enjoyed hospitality and lavish entertainment while demonstrations took place inside and outside the conference. But the outcome of the summit provided nothing for the poor nothing for the climate and nothing was done to keep the environment from continuing to deteriorate. It is time for Saudis to express concern for the environment and demonstrate actions rather than words to assist the Jeddah Municipality in resolving its street cleaning problems.