Submitted by Koki Prinzinger (Mrs), Dec 14, 2007 03:21

I'm from a poor developing country. I have worked for an organization whose main purpose of existence is protecting the environment worldwide and I think that Pope Benedict XVI is making a very important point here.

People occupying white-color jobs in most nations of the world tend to sit and "push papers" on their desks throughout their working life. The 20^th and 21^st centuries could be described as "centuries of traveling to meetings and conferences in human history". Deliberations and negotiations are important, no doubt, but concrete solutions to protect the environment and avert climate change go beyond this paper pushing approach.

Wholesome protection of the environment is complex, but it is achievable. It needs political good will in the first place. It needs an echelon of people in every nation, who are serious about effecting climate change right from the roots of the problems; people who are not afraid to dirt their hands to work in order to effect that change. Such people cannot be taught only in the school classroom or University halls. That kind of education should start in the family home, then get strengthened and solidified at school and University.

Lawmakers should be sincerely interested in uplifting the lot of the poor from the quagmire of their misery in life: ignorance, disease and lack of basic essentials like water, food and shelter. An obvious example is: how can leaders tell the poor not to cut down trees if that is the only source of fuel accessible to them to cook their food, if they do not offer them practical knowledge about alternative sources of fuel? How do those countries which dump wastes that impact the environment negatively get away with it for so long? The industries around the world which still produce materials using chemicals that impact the climate negatively are still going strong. Most of this is for private gain at the expense of global loss. Change of attitude could begin emerging from the family home education (the old "from the known to the unknown" principle).

Leaders of communities in their diversity should aim to make room for unity of purpose as an important tool to fight together for the protection of the environment after they have given them –or taught them about- alternatives.

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.