The Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral is arguably one of the most iconic monuments around the globe. It’s not only a symbol of religion but also an example of the insanely complicated equations and designs the human mind is capable of executing; when the 850-year-old cathedral’s roof went up in flames, the world was understandably upset. Almost immediately, donations started pouring in until they stacked up to 1 billion USD. This staggeringly large amount of money has now enraged many people and sparked a debate on whether this money should go towards a “better” cause, like climate change or poverty.

In the past few years, climate change has been an increasingly urgent concern. According to UNICEF, we only have 12 years to fix the damage we’ve caused to the planet. That’s like, such a long time!” You might say, so think about it this way. In 12 years, you will most likely be 23-26. The average lifespan of a human is 79 years. In less than halfway through your life, you’ll see the world fall apart. Climate change is a huge problem that affects all of us, and sending millions of dollars to repair a single building instead of repairing the Earth goes to show that many people still don’t realize the severity of it all. How is a cathedral going to save your life from the destruction of this planet?

Of course, religion is a huge part of many people’s lives, and when the Notre Dame burned, so did their hearts. Religion brings people together. Rebuilding the Notre Dame would bring joy and hope to millions of people across the globe. It’s a completely reasonable concept. The only problem is that a billion dollars is just too much. A billion dollars could fix the Flint water crisis ten times over. A billion dollars could help the less fortunate in so many ways. A billion dollars could literally fix so many global crises, so how come billionaires claim that they don’t have the money for them and then bring it out in two days for a burning building?

The Notre Dame burning is indeed a tragedy, but it’s not as tragic as half of the problems with the world. The money towards it could fix problems that are much more urgent and critical, so let’s stop crying over a cathedral put our heads and hearts in the right place.