In 2016, when the Paris Agreement was signed by most countries throughout the world, there was great hope that global collaboration would tackle the global warming crisis. Unfortunately, however, it is presently clear that a significant number of those countries are failing to put into action what they wrote on paper. While money and resources are useful, it would seem that ultimate power is the key to making Earth a sustainable environment. If countries aren’t willing to confront the issue that the world is facing, it doesn’t matter how much money and technology exists.

To the contrary, ultimate power would force leaders throughout the world to abide by steps that are a necessity to the future of the human race. For instance, a universal carbon tax law would ensure that each country could only burn a certain amount of fossil fuels each year. This would result in a conspicuous decrease in the amount of greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere, which would cool the Earth as well as decrease the number of deaths caused by local air pollution issues. Collectively, the nation would benefit at the same time as the rest of the world.

Similarly, banning private vehicle ownership and only operating public transportation in big cities would be another critical step one could take if they had unlimited power. Urban centers with a population above 25,000 could be forced to create public network systems that remove the need for citizens to use private vehicles. Such a policy would  help reduce carbon emissions and provide convenience to citizens who could still move from place-to-place without facing the financial burden of owning vehicles, such as cars and motorbikes.

The pattern that emerges is that these decisions benefit the people of the world on both a local and international level. Currently, there is a significant amount of division between a great number of countries throughout the world, which makes it impossible to take the essential steps required to avoid climate catastrophe. Thus, the issue is not about money and technology since we already have an abundance of those two factors. Instead, it is about somebody, or an institution, having the ultimate power to implement international collective change without resistance. With power comes the ability to create true change for the greater good of society.