Photo/Illutration Climate activists attend a protest against fossil fuels at Dubai's Expo City during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Dec. 12. (Reuters)

“Rashomon,” a 1950 film by director Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) set in the Heian Period (794-1185), masterfully portrays human egoism.

The main characters, including a bandit, recount how a samurai died. But each character’s version is different, as everyone is only willing to say what suits them.

Watching the movie again the other day, my eyes were drawn to scenes of a downpour and a mountain scorched by the brutal heat of summer, and I wondered if there were such extreme weather episodes back then.

The situation is much worse today. According to the World Meteorological Organization, this year’s average global temperature is expected to be the highest on record.

The announcement, made while the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) was being held in Dubai, warned that “extreme weather is destroying lives and livelihoods on a daily basis.”

Sharp disagreements persisted among COP28 participants over the wording of its declaration.

The United States, European nations and island nations demanded the phrase “phase-out” be used regarding fossil fuels, but Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing nations resisted.

On Dec. 13, however, an agreement was finally reached on a “transition away from fossil fuels.”

Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, Samoa’s minister for natural resources and environment, was quoted as saying, “We will not sign our death certificate.”

His words brought back memories of South Pacific islands I covered in the past--Tonga, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. The rising sea levels and coastal erosion are already grave in those nations.

In Kiribati, one village had to be abandoned when all homes there became flooded.

“If global warming continues, our country will sink under the sea for certain, and we will have nowhere to flee to,” said a villager who has relocated and remains pessimistic about the children’s future.

No matter how I look at it, it is just plain wrong that people on faraway islands are left to suffer because of greenhouse gas emissions from the developed world.

Japan, which is still unable to stop depending on coal with its particularly high emissions, must try much harder to reduce its carbon footprint. And there is precious little time left.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 14

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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