About a fortnight ago, a group of geoscientists gathered at Cape Town, South Africa, and have recommended that mankind’s impact on Mother Earth has been so profound in recent years, that it is time to describe a new geological epoch in the history of earth, calling it Anthropocene (Anthropo, from the Greek for humankind, and cene from the Greek kainos, Latinised as caenus or cene, meaning new).
They suggested that the present epoch, described so far as the Holocene (Holo, from the Greek for whole/entire), has given rise to the Anthropocene. It is suggested to start from 66 years ago (1950), thus halting Holocene, an epoch that started about 11,700 years ago, when the last Ice Age occurred. At that time, most of the Ice Age animals – the woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers and giant bears – had died out, and by 11,000 years ago, humans had occupied a significant part of the earth as hunter gatherers as well as settled communities, inventing farming and agriculture.
What hath man wrought! What has led us to redefine our epoch, from a natural one into a man-induced one? Back 11,000 years ago, the carbon dioxide (or CO2) level in the atmosphere surrounding the globe was about 220 parts per million (ppm); even 8,000 years ago, it was about 260 ppm. But starting the nineteenth century, when the industrial revolution started in the West, coal from the earth and beneath it was used extensively as the fuel for transport and industry.
The other major fossil fuels, oil (petroleum) and natural gas were discovered and put to use on a large scale. Burning carbon-rich fossil fuel liberates CO2. And CO2 is an example of what is referred to as a Greenhouse gas, which lets sunlight in, but traps the heat radiation that the earth and its oceans emit in return. (An easy example is when a car is parked in the sun, with its glass windows shut, sunlight enters the inside of the car, warming it, but the outgoing heat is trapped by the closed windows; the same effect is utilised in greenhouses, where plants and vegetables are grown in cold climate; hence the name greenhouse effect).
Non-stop burning of fossil fuels for industry, transport and other uses over these years has accumulated a large amount of CO2, which does not escape the earth (thanks to the gravitational pull of the earth; lighter gases such as hydrogen or helium gases escape, which is why they are not earthbound). Thus, over time, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere has shot up from 280 ppm at the start of the Industrial Revolution to 413 ppm today.
As a result, the average surface temperature over these two centuries has gone up by 1.5 degrees Centigrade. This has also started melting glaciers and raised the sea level by 3.2 mm every year. (Indeed, the island nation, Maldives, is worried that at this rate, some of its islands may be submerged in the near future, and had actually asked Australia whether they could buy land and move there!).
Added to the warming of the oceans and landmass caused by the Greenhouse gases (CO2, NO, Ozone, methane…), are the plastics and their debris, strewn all across the world and its oceans. Plastic pollution is an even more recent phenomenon . In addition, increase in human population from 1.2 billion in 1850 to the current 7 billion, has led to massive destruction of forests and animals therein has led to a crowding problem, and its associated effects.
Well, we do not have the luxury of time, and need to drastically cut down our use of fossil fuels, plastics and all other material that have led to this unfortunate climate change. As usual, vested interests still refuse to believe that climate change has occurred, and that the use of fossil fuels is not responsible for this dangerous ‘greenhouse gas catastrophe’. We need to be at least wise now and try hard to stop further damage to Mother Earth. Every little bit helps; little drops of water make the mighty ocean
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[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.