Former US President Barack Obama is at the end of his 10-day family vacation in Indonesia with wife Michelle and their daughters Malia and Sasha. He had spent a portion of his childhood in this country, and this was his first trip to Asia after he left office; hence it was a sort of homecoming.
In Jakarta, he addressed a gathering on the occasion of the opening of the Fourth Congress of Indonesian Diaspora. During his talk, he brought up the subject of climate change and criticized the way his successor Donald Trump handled it. He had announced that the United States was pulling out of the Paris climate agreement and it came as a shock to Obama who had been one of its architects.
Barack Obama speaks his mind
Daily Mail UK reports that the former president of the United States explained to the audience about the Paris agreement on climate change and said that it was an ambitious one. He also said that even if America is distancing itself from it at present, the agreement would still give a chance of survival to our future generation.
Barack Obama went on to add that the world of today has many challenges pertaining to not only climate change but also to other equally important matters like economic inequality, terrorism, and mass migration which need to be attacked together.
His weakness for Indonesia was evident from his words when he pointed out that the country had seen a rise in a number of unwanted issues and the attitude should be one of tolerance.
He wants Indonesia to set an example for other Muslim countries around the world.
The effects of climate change
In the course of interaction with people in Jakarta, Barack Obama talked about new perceptions that are emerging. He dwelt on regular differences that are cropping up between the media and Donald Trump. He had recently been at the receiving end of criticism by both Democrats and Republicans for a tweet which targeted members of the media and, one of them was a woman.
However, at the back of his mind was the issue of climate change and the refusal of the United States to endorse the Paris accord. The world has to realize that global warming is one of the major factors responsible for many of the natural disasters like floods, landslides, and coastal erosion. It has also been established that global warming is a result of carbon emission generated from fossil fuels.
Therefore, to control carbon emission, fossil fuels must be done away with and those in power must change their mindsets. Such an action could affect the interest of those who are associated with fossil fuels but, in the larger interest of society. They need to understand that use of such fuels should be discouraged and people must switch over to alternate sources of energy to save the planet.
