Article March 14, 2005 Issue

PRACTICING EARTHCARE

By Dorrit Kjaer Christiansen

These days the European media are filled with news about the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which took effect February 16. This agreement, negotiated in the beautiful city of Kyoto, Japan, commits participating nations to reducing their emissions of certain "greenhouse" gases, primarily carbon dioxide, which have been linked to global warming.

Environmental concerns run deep and wide where I live in Brussels, "the center of the European Union" (EU). But environmental awareness is hardly limited to the EU, or to other parts of the world. And the state of our planet concerns not only decisionmakers and environmental groups, but every inhabitant—all who breathe the air, drink the water, walk, run, and play at the beaches and in the forests. Who build, buy, or rent homes to live in. Who grow, sell, and eat food. In fact, it is a concern that unites us as the human family.

Considering the gravity and the scale of environmental issues facing us, one may ask: What can I do? Does what I think or do matter? Can I make a difference?