Why is climate action limping despite countries agreeing to cut down on emissions and consumption?

Human response to an impending danger is usually quick and decisive. In case of war, armies are put immediately into action, resources commandeered and new laws passed to ensure that the enemy is crushed. The recent COVID-19 pandemic saw extensive cooperation amongst nations, with quick and decisive action taken by countries, companies and people. All hands were on deck to fight the minuscule virus.

In the case of climate too, it is an equally minuscule carbon dioxide molecule that is wreaking havoc and threatening our existence, but our response for reining in this monster has been below par. Why? Climate change is besieged with two problems.

The first is that the carbon dioxide molecule can be generated anywhere but does not necessarily stay there. It travels and mixes in the air and, therefore, its geographical impact gets dissociated from its point of origin. People who are responsible for generating carbon dioxide do not suffer more than people who may not have played any role in its proliferation. The monster can strike anywhere, any time, not necessarily affecting the people who created it. This causes the perpetrators to behave irrationally and continue with their profligate ways. Everyone feels that it is someone else’s...

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