Sean Paul among reggae acts to get behind climate change messaging
Published:Friday | January 1, 2016 | 12:00 AM
After lending his talents to the song Love Song to the Earth, Grammy-winning artiste Sean Paul is looking to do more in the effort against climate change.
Addressing a press conference at the recently concluded international climate talks held in Paris, Sean Paul signalled a commitment to gathering and sharing information on the troubling phenomena.
"I was driven here in an electric car and I was inquiring a lot about the car - how much it takes to take care of it and how much it cost [to purchase]. And it was just crazy to me that people go and shop in stores, and in one day they could actually buy that car, which would help reduce a lot of carbon emissions," said Sean Paul, who was in Paris to perform.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including carbon dioxide - primarily the result of human actions, including coal burning and petrol use over the last 100-plus years - fuel global warming, which contributes to the climate impacts currently being experienced in small-island developing states like those of the Caribbean. Such impacts include sea-level rise and an increase in sea-surface temperatures, which stand to jeopardise coastal lives and livelihoods.
FRESH IDEAS
"Just being here is great for fresh ideas that I can bring back to my country. Me being here, seeing that car, having driven in the car, asking the questions and then going back to Jamaica to inquire how I can get cars like that there ... ." added Sean Paul, who collaborated with Natasha Bedingfield, Paul McCartney, and others on Love Song to the Earth.
He also indicated that he was prepared to make adjustments in his own lifestyle.
"The less that I can put out in terms of garbage, and so on," Sean Paul told the media, in reference to materials that are harmful to the environment.
And he is not alone in his resolve to promote information sharing and change in the effort to combat climate change. He is joined by other Caribbean acts, including another Jamaican, Aaron Silk, and Adrian 'The Doc' Martinez of Belize.
Both men were themselves in Paris performing under the '1.5 to Stay Alive' campaign run by Panos Caribbean in collaboration with other key regional actors, notably the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, the Caribbean Development Bank, the Regional Council of Martinique, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, and the St Lucia Ministry of Sustainable Development.