COP 25: A Missed Opportunity!

COP 25 CHILE MADRID 2019!

This new climate conference, originally scheduled to take place in Chile, had to be moved to Madrid due to the serious social crisis—not to mention the social revolution!—that the South American country is currently facing.

This is a first sign—if one is still needed—that the climate crisis and the social crisis are now closely linked, just as observers had predicted. Indeed, at the same time that several popular uprisings are shaking various countries around the globe, citizens worldwide are marching for the climate. In doing so, they are demonstrating to their political leaders that ordinary people—the general public—have understood the urgency of taking action…

Last week, 500,000 citizens marched for the climate through the streets of Madrid. 196 countries came together to reach agreements aimed at keeping global warming below the 2° threshold. But no significant progress was made—some are even calling it a failure!

Observers have all been highly critical of the inaction in the face of the climate emergency, particularly that of the G20 countries, the largest emitters of greenhouse gases… Réseau Action Climat France, the federation of organizations committed to the fight against climate change, puts it this way: “Finally, France, which was represented at the ministerial level for only a single day during the political phase, has not fulfilled its role as guardian of the Paris Agreement. ”With minimal representation at the COP for the past two years, national performance falling far short of targets, and after France’s double-dealing on nuclear power jeopardized the European Council’s outcomes, it is high time for France to invest real political capital in climate action.”

After twelve days of negotiations, the major polluting countries failed to make any of the expected announcements, particularly regarding assistance to small developing countries in adapting to climate change. The major carbon-emitting countries are holding back on climate action. It is clear that the failure of the negotiations is ultimately due to financial and economic disagreements among the participating countries.

However, in its “Green Deal” plan, Europe has announced that it aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030. The details of how this will be implemented will not be known until November 2020, at the next COP in Glasgow. As for Chile’s Minister of the Environment, Carolina Schmidt, she announced a coalition of 73 nations, regions, cities, and companies committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

However, scientists“ warnings are unequivocal: we must not exceed the 2° warming threshold by the dawn of 2100, or risk triggering a mass extinction, and the primarily economic calculations of world leaders do not pave the way for either prudence or wisdom. As things stand, the commitments made in the ”Paris Agreement” will not be enough to achieve this goal, and global warming is expected to approach 3°. This catastrophe is already underway, yet it could be contained if world leaders took bold measures that go against the demands of the corporate lobby. A gap—a vast chasm—is widening between the world’s people marching for the climate and their political representatives!

Nathalie Laulé