Commentary by Lee Tak Lim
In one of my “Business Ethics” lectures of an MBA Programme, I showed my students a documentary film which, I think, is timely to complement their textbook knowledge about climate change.
The film, “The Year Earth Changed”, was produced by Mike Gunton and Alice Keens-Soper, and directed by Tom Beard. It highlights behavioural changes of animals across the seas, skies and lands when countries are locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The film begins with a young Indian photographer standing on the roof and pointing to a faraway mountain, saying: “It is the first time in the last 30 years that I can see it.”
The mountain is Mount Everest, the highest in the world. It became visible after India locked down for 14 days. The respite in human activities in India cleared the sky which, previously, was filled with smog which completely blocked the view of the Himalayas.
Narrated by David Attenborough, even a layman spectator like me, understood the reasons why birds sing more, turtles frequent beaches more to lay eggs with baby turtles’ survival rate having more than doubled, and whales communicating more in oceans. These phenomena can hardly be explained by theories other than the significant reduction in business and human activities.
The beauty of this film is not its footage but its clear message that the Earth is not just lived on by humans, but other living creatures with which humans have to coexist.
Scientists have not yet reached a consensus about climate change, though the differences are narrowing. If not for the pandemic, it is unimaginable that countries will shut down their economies just to prove how well the Earth will behave when business and human activities are curtailed.
The film should be commended for its contribution to the climate change debate that the continued exploitation of nature is not sustainable. But do we want another pandemic to shore up the climate change argument before we take serious action?
Two screenshots of the film “The Year Earth Changed” provided by the author
