A Kamla-Rowley fellowship

Everybody agrees that Divali, with its bright lights and prayers, is also a time to celebrate fellowship and goodwill.

The challenges for saving a deleterious carbon-driven future present an opportunity for fellowship beyond mere words and promises. The high-profile concerns and promises by over 100 world leaders at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, while encouraging, did not, in fact, could not establish a carbon-reduction methodology that fits all countries.

It is not only about funding. As the worldwide covid19 attack has mercilessly shown, it is about leadership, the people and their active participation in the SOS mission.

Look, for reasons inevitable or not, we here did not do too well with mobilising our population. The COP26 speech by Dr Rowley should provide an all-round opportunity for mobilising all sectors for tackling climate change.

In fact, we should show the rest how it could be done by framing the kind of partnered leadership beyond the restrictive Westminster adversarial model – government frustrating opposition, opposition opposing government. This model is not suited to deal effectively with covid19, nor with climate change, which respects no particular country, party, politician, race or religion.

In the enlightenment and fellowship promised by Divali, it will be of divine purpose if Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, as a practising Hindu, wrote to Dr Rowley, requesting a meeting to initiate a national mobilisation effort towards dealing with the risks and complexities of climate change. Or should she wait until Rowley initiates the fellowship?

A lot of what is required needs some sacrifice. This country’s heavy reliance on carbon-producing energy will have to be significantly reduced. The efforts toward diversification will require a fit-for-purpose, mobilised private sector and population.

This goes beyond who has legal power and who will win or lose the next election. In fact, our vision of climate change should be for the next generation, not merely for the next election. Our national effort should put us in a strategic position to join global efforts. Let the population judge whose words really matter.

Noting climate-change consequences, Dr Rowley told the COP26 conference: “Let’s work for survival, for ours and the species. The only solution therefore is to increase collective ambition.”

He is right. The “collective ambition” will be well served if it begins at home with the “fellowship” required. Of course, government is to implement, but governance also requires a facilitative pathway towards implementation. The climate change effort is already weakened by the COP26 absence of major players like Russia, China, Brazil, Mexico and a number of Middle East countries.

Significantly too, the US, China, Russia, Australia and India are among countries that have not yet signed the time-lined coal-reduction agreement. The deadlines, they claim, are too unrealistic. India has pledged a 70-year limit. This UN 26th COP, sponsored by the UK government, was a follow-up to the tottering 2015 Paris Agreement. There will be serious challenges for “global ambition.” Further, for developing countries particularly, it will cost a lot of hard currency to decarbonise and diversify.

We are a country famous for giving hope. In her Divali message, President Paula-Mae Weekes said: “At Divali, we have a golden opportunity to strive for self-improvement and engage in critical analysis and reflection. Let us offer ourselves for the common good and search out ways in which we can contribute joy to adversity, hope to despair, wisdom to ignorance.”

Dr Rowley said: “Let us use the experience of Divali to make progressive changes in our lives. Let us be more co-operative, more forgiving of our fellow citizens.”

And referring to covid19, Ms Persad-Bissessar said: "We must all work together if we are to overcome these challenges.”

“Common good?” “More co-operative?” “Work together?”

Now tell me, with such loud calls for fellowship, what makes it so difficult for Dr Rowley to treat Ms Persad-Bissessar’s fellowship request with the “politeness, courtesy and respect” he advocated in his Divali message?

That is, if she rises to make the request for a joint initiative against climate change.

The right thing is not always easy to do. If a joint, start-up fellowship cannot materialise, it will be another example of how our political system is a noisy failure.

It may also well mean that Divali has not taught us anything much.