Naysayers there always will be. But there is hope, and towards that hope of greatness we all must head. We made it, but there we do not rest. As dutiful and responsible citizens of the Earth, we have a bigger responsibility to shoulder. We make our own future.

We have received some recognition for our earnest efforts to save our dear planet, our home. But we are still pained by the lack of support from our neighbours near and far. There are those who contribute much so much to the Earth’s climate change. Bigger economies have the power to kill the debate. That’s what we have seen so far.

All the while, our glaciers are melting and our river levels are rising. Our cropping patterns are changing. These do have serious impact on the livelihood of our people. As an agrarian society with more 70 percent of our people depending on agriculture, we ought to be worried.

As a small nation, our efforts do not make much difference on the global stage. We may shout and they way give us a nod or two. But there the talks end. What good is there to count the awards?

What we do best, however, is to protect our own home. The world may have given up on one of the most dangerous problems facing the humanity, but we have not sold our soul to the devil yet. We still believe that individual and national efforts can make a difference. That’s why we are unique. Some organisations see us as champions of Earth, but that’s a different matter. It doesn’t even count in the larger scheme of things.

As United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP) Ozone Ambassador, Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen has been our voice. We are blessed that we have been able to pull the world to see climate change the way we feel through Her Majesty.  We successfully phased out an ozone depleting substance Chlorofluorocarbon in 2010 and are on track to phasing out the Hydrochlorofluorocarbon.

These are no small feat.

We may be signatory to many protocals, conventions and international treaties. What is important is that we commit to protecting our own home. The world at large doesn’t care. It is time we got out of this delusion that the world beyond is sensitive about climate change and caring.

We do not want to hear hollow words of our leaders who speak scripted language of bureaucracy and hurtful diplomacy. Let us praise ourselves for all our efforts to save our homeland and let us commit to working unwaveringly to give our planet new lease of life, so to speak.

We are the earth champions and we must remain so, for our own sake.

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