Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Glasgow climate conference – COP26 – is a moment of great importance for the planet. This is the reason why the eyes of the world are riveted on this event to follow with apprehension if the decisions will be up to the stakes, if since the COP23, there has been an evolution of consciousness, if the substantive marrow, the the quintessence of what binds us as humanity can finally impose itself and spread.
Yet it is more evident than ever that we will have to stick together to get out of this collectively because we have no spare planet! Pic – France 24 It must be said that the current situation with regard to climate change is overwhelming.
Evidence parades before us daily through variations in temperature, torrential rains leading to major flooding, rising sea levels, melting ice at the poles, or disappearing snow from Kilimanjaro closer to home.
This is why Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who chairs the G20, bringing together the great economic powers of the world, made it clear in his speech that the fight against climate change is the major challenge of our time.
He added: either we act now by shifting gears to favor a greener approach, or we procrastinate by postponing crucial decisions without any guarantee of success. Among the G20 countries, Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States alone account for 80% of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions.
If we got there, we have to blame only ourselves, because it is due to our excesses, to our frantic race to obtain always more growth, profits, to hoist us in the headliner.
, without any other consideration and ignoring the disastrous consequences of such behavior .
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. This climate change – which is now shaking up our certainties – demands intelligent and intelligible decision-making from all of us.
The time is no longer for muddy speeches but for action because the time is serious. According to climatologists, to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees, we must reach “net zero emission” by 2050.
There is therefore an urgent need to get all countries to make the right choices, to be proactive so that this conference is not a sword in the water but a real opportunity to move in the right direction and lay the foundations. for a turnaround.
We must also take note of the fact that certain powers, like China and India, want to argue that they cannot be asked to slow down their growth and development while other countries – before them – built their wealth without restrictions and are responsible for a large part of the current situation.
If these elements are not acted upon in one way or another, then one might expect resistance from them. It is therefore necessary to show a lot of diplomacy and tact because, ultimately, the goal is to move all countries in the same direction and thus avoid committing irreparable.
It should also be realized that the powers of the West sometimes have the wrong reflex of handing out certificates of good conduct according to their own agenda or of making peremptory statements which often annoy and irritate more than one.
The excellent film by the great director Costa Gavras ‘Adults in the room’ on the attitude of the European Union, and this, in relation to Greece as it was going through a delicate period, is very revealing and portrayed with brio this paternalistic mentality.
This posture would explain, to a certain extent, the physical absence of the leaders of China and Russia at COP26, even if, basically, it is a missed opportunity for them to discuss, face to face, contentious or pending cases to ease tensions that do not serve the interests of anyone.
As these political posturing unfolds, the fate of a number of countries hangs in the balance. We remember the exceptional cabinet of ministers held by the then Prime Minister of the Maldives under the sea.
The goal was to get the world to react to the fact that his island would be totally submerged by the ocean in a not very distant future. Although this had marked the spirits, once again, there was no follow-up, no general mobilization to contain this problem.
Other islands are unfortunately in a similar situation, such as Samoa, Solomon, Barbados, Tuvalu, Kiribati, among many others. In fact, the emotional speech of the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, recently in Scotland, as well as her plea for concrete actions has moved many people.
The populations of all these islands will represent a new category of refugees, known as climatic refugees without a motherland and no longer having their own territory.
In the same vein, the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, like Chief Raoni, are at the forefront of the fight to save the primary forest, their natural habitat since always, while at the same time deforestation continues.
all the more beautiful under the government of Bolsonaro which distributes exploitation permits with a vengeance. Sometimes, between the implacable observation and the accompanying measures, there is a big gap, a gaping hole.
As much when large corporations find themselves in difficulty or at the edge of the abyss as during the ‘sub-prime’ crisis, the state rolls up its sleeves to come to their aid, as much when simple individuals are victims of climate change, l ‘we procrastinate before deciding whether to support them or not.
And, this is the reason why more and more people question this model of development where they feel excluded. This would explain the very high percentage of abstentions in elections or the attraction of parties that advocate a nationalism reminding us of the dark pages of human history.
At the local level, the presence at COP26 should not be a moment of complacency just to give ourselves a clear conscience and, in return, we do not take the courageous decisions that are appropriate, for example, with regard to coal .
Coal should not have been authorized in the first place if our governments were aware of its negative consequences on the environment, but it seems that powerful networks always have the last word. Climate change must imperatively strengthen the concept of global solidarity.
Thus, the migrant crisis concerns all those leaving war zones or countries affected by famine, and those who are victims of bullying to seek refuge under safer skies, in spite of the crooked smugglers.
This situation has revealed a not very flattering aspect of the most advanced societies. A targeted aid policy is needed to encourage responsible local development, which would help preserve the environment.
It is true that the great majority of the peoples of the world have a deep attachment to their land of origin and only ask to live in peace with their families on this soil.
COP26 has its work cut out for it. Over 100,000 young people marched because it is about their future and they have no intention of abdicating, of giving up: they demand accountability.
But given the calculated attitude of some leaders, the road may be long, hoping that by then it is not too late. Indeed, we are on the eve of an irreversible situation.
Greta Thunberg, the very pugnacious activist, has already described this conference negatively: it is a failure because there is not enough ambition, she tells us.
Let us hope, however, that at the end of the work, we do not limit ourselves to just “net zero” gas emissions in 2050, to stopping deforestation in 2030, or to stopping the emission of methane in 2030.
This would not be enough and would confirm the fears of some scientists who think that even if the initiatives to reduce emissions are put in place, we will still be impacted by an increase of 2.7 degrees.
The rich countries would also have to keep their word by making available the $ 100 billion promised since 2020, otherwise the less well-off countries will rightly question their credibility.
It is for this reason that the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has emphatically stressed that breaches of financial commitments contribute to mistrust between the north and the south. Our future is being played out now.
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