The Solution (2nd Edition)

Chon

Ogling Sarah while she slept wasn't a chivalrous thing to do. Therefore, when I got disturbed by aimless noises, I couldn't complain. Instead, I took it as a sign to get on with my DNR, and in all fairness, I'd put Dieng's Diary News Report off for long enough. Once the flight was airborne, I beamed out a new holoscreen and used A.I.D.A to compose a rough draft. Minutes later I was done but wanted a little reassurance. Naturally, I nudged my confidant awake and asked for his council. "Mikey...Mikey," I muttered. "I need help with this."

    "What?" he groaned, trying to get his bearings.

    "Big guy, I need you to go through my report," I explained. "Want to make sure it reads well before I hotbox it over to Dieng. It won't take long, promise."

    "Oh, I know it won't," Mikey grimaced playfully. "I'll just skim-read it to get the gist."

    Happy for the support I smiled and saved the document. Then I swiped the data onto Mikey's open holoscreen which covered his game, and waited patiently, as he whisked through.

Diary News Report

The Solution World Climate Summit

The Agenda's History

The United Nations forged the Environment Program in 1972. Back then, 'UNEP' was climate change's 'first solution'. Years later, the UN created World Environment Day. This gave rise to The Kyoto Protocol, The Paris Agreement and The Paris-Plus Accord. Essentially, these initiatives addressed and enforced the total reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions from developed and developing countries - even though the scientific community stressed that it was already too late.

    In respect of The Agenda's chronology, it started in 2005, when New Orleans was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. In the US, Katrina was the worst Category 5 hurricane in over half a century. The first ever Super Storm changed the way the world looked at climate change. In fact, it created 'The Agenda of Concern', casually known as 'The Agenda', which tried to establish whether Katrina was a natural phenomenon? Or, if it was induced, and brought about by carbon-consuming humans?

    In 2008, The Agenda was addressed again because of a sudden cyclone, and a ground-shattering earthquake. In Burma, the Yellow Sea's water banks had been breached due to almost a year's rainfall in two days. While in China, Sichuan province experienced tremor devastation which killed 80,000 people. By 2021, philosophers and scientists had begun to wonder if 'Gaia', the apparent 'living essence' of Mother Nature, was punishing humanity with a constant purge of various pandemics and super natural disasters?

Agenda's Catalyst

After Katrina, American politicians; Republicans and Democrats alike; rallied together. In less than a decade, they reshaped their nation by taking control of their economy and carbon footprint. They did so by convincing private investors to boost the recently-collapsed Wall St. stock market, as well as totally implementing renewable fuel sources such as solar. In a sense, they created their own Solution.

    Naturally, China took their galvanization as a bold and serious opportunity to instigate our own.

    Repayment for the COVID-19 Pandemic and World Depression of 2020 were also obvious motivations.

    Including the construction of The Filters, and the way in which we produced food, we accomplished much change... And since then, American culture has been mystifyingly influential in the Far East. Subsequently, our Chinese dialects are rarely spoken or heard anymore. Even the traditional way of saying names here has been discarded. However, the biggest catalytic change has been global weather; Super Storms; specifically. The most recent was Super Sadie, a cyclone ranked at an unfathomable, Category 8. Worse still, scientific predictions suggest the worst of the storms are yet to come, and they are bold predictions which continue to divide the world.

The Agenda's Champion

There has been one politician who has advocated against human-induced global warming and rapid climate change. Or, what he retorts is 'imminent climate destabilization'. He is, CPC Environment Secretary Xen Lai, and creator of The Solution, and its World Climate Summit. Xen credits his long-standing ethos to the wise old American, Greg Craven, who (using a simple grid diagram and The Precautionary Principle) once suggested that the world should 'prepare for climate change, rather than debate whether it's genuine or not'.

    In recent years, the secretary's reforms and optional schemes have successfully contributed to China's exceptionally high 'Green Grade'. A current example is his most recent one which has lessened the national carbon footprint by 40%. Provided by the government, citizens can wear solar panel backpacks. Once fully charged, the batteries inside the photo-voltaic packs can be plugged into hubs aboard hover buses and trains. In exchange for the solar-converted electricity, citizens can ride for free. That Solution has seen millions give up old modes of automotive transport, while others have gone further by reverting to non-powered walking and cycling.

    Working to prepare the world for what he feels is 'unavoidable climate change consequences', Xen Lai will head his first-ever world climate summit, due to be held in Frankfurt, Germany, over the coming days.

    Furthermore, the secretary has always been open about where his personal motivation has come from. His Mother is retired Climatologist, Nobel Prize Winner, and Elder, Laina Lai, who during her career acquired significant data about climate change in Siberia...

    In previous interviews, Xen Lai explained how he's always agreed with his mother's theories. Subsequently, he's discussed them unofficially with colleagues, but has often come across as holding something back... The only thing he chooses to be forthcoming about is the proclamation that dark days are coming - dark days that we should all prepare for... Naturally so, the secretary wants to use his 'enlightening' summit to present the world with the core problem, cause, and his vision, 'The Solution'...

    Once in Frankfurt, I will witness how it all pans out.

    Chon Lai, World Affairs Correspondent, BTV

End of Chapter 6