SINGER Lloyd Lovindeer has thrown his voice behind local efforts to raise awareness on climate change, with his recently penned song, Our Planet’s Aid.

The song, which runs about three minutes, urges Jamaicans to act in the interest of a planet in peril from rising sea levels, warmer temperatures and the associated risk of diseases such as dengue, as well as flooded islands in the Caribbean.

Climatologists argue that global warming, a critical feature of the changing climate, has been exacerbated by human action. Specifically, the increased use of fossil fuels like oil and coal has resulted in greater levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, they say. This, coupled with the increased rate at which trees are being cut down to accommodate houses and other developments, has impaired earth’s ability to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. The result has been warmer temperatures.

“I’ve been hearing about this thing (climate change) for a long while now and seen all the news items,” said Lovindeer, who recently participated in an artiste workshop to bring members of Jamaica’s entertainment industry up to speed on the challenges of climate change. “I listened to the experts and saw what was happening around the world and I realised it was a real problem. So I decided that I would just write a song about it.”

That workshop, hosted by Panos Caribbean and the National Environmental Education Committee, was held at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on January 28.

Lovindeer, who is perhaps best known for his 1988 hit Wild Gilbert, a comical commentary on the destruction Hurricane Gilbert brought to Jamaica in 1988, has urged his colleagues in the industry to follow his lead.

“Have a social conscience,” he said. “Apart from making the money and doing the commercial stuff and all of that, come out with the material that can influence positive change in society. We all know that the music, it’s a business, and that it is your profession, so you are in it to make a living. But while making a living, make a social contribution.”

He noted that as climate change stood to destroy not only people’s livelihoods and property but also claim lives, music would prove an especially useful tool to promote behaviour change.

“Music can speak about the problem and make people more aware,” said Lovindeer. “And as I say in the song, I am not trying to tell you how to live; I am trying to make you more aware. If we are aware of what is happening, we can then make the changes.”

The song was played at last Monday’s press conference, held at the Caledonia Avenue offices of the National Environment and Planning Agency. The press conference was intended to provide members of the media and the public with details on the outcomes of the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Poznan, Poland last December.

The climate change song will form a part of Lovindeer’s double album – tentatively entitled We Are All Connected – which is to be released later this year.