Unfulfilled Promises

Since 1979 when the 1st World Climate Conference was held in Geneva, convened by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), until the last COP-28 in Dubai in 2023, discussions have been held on the effects of human activity on the increase of global warming and the serious threat it represents for all species that inhabit the planet.

Practically all the climate conferences or summits have agreed to take measures in this regard, but none of them have done anything concrete, and some have even promoted the use of fossil fuels as opposed to alternative energies and the protection of nature.

What makes us think that the organization of the UN Conference on EARTH AND DROUGHT can take place in one of the ten most polluting countries (15.5 Gt CO2 1970-2022) and can generate positive results to the serious climate crisis.

The UN authorities should demand concrete results from the countries that address strict policies regarding the protection of nature so that by means of results they are chosen as host countries for climate summits since such results will be exposed to the world and not remain only intentions and false promises unfulfilled since the beginning of such summits.

Saudi Arabia, other oil producing countries and the fossil industry have not fulfilled their environmental responsibility to the world, so how do we address the crisis of the EARTH AND DROUGHT if they are not responsible with their polluting actions, the forest capacity has decreased significantly and therefore the ability to attract rainfall, carbon sequestration, climate regulation, barrier to natural disasters, oxygen generation among others, causing desertification is lost, recent studies show the negative BIOCAPACITY of some countries among which we cite:  Singapore (9890% excess consumption over biological capacity), Bermuda (4810%), Reunion (2820%), Barbados (2070%), Cayman Islands (1670%), United Arab Emirates (1650%), Israel (1640%), Bahrain (1530%), Saudi Arabia (1350%), Cyprus (1260%) or Qatar (1230%).  

What solutions does this UN Conference on EARTH and DROUGHT propose if practically all its previous promises have not been fulfilled in a minimum percentage, what solutions does this conference propose if they do not show real data of the agreements reached, it will be that they surprise the world with technological alternatives such as direct air capture, which by the way is subsidized by taxpayers and does not represent any benefit to the planet except for the fossil industry.

I thought that it only happened in my country Ecuador the fact of leaving some things for the last moment, big mistake, it happens worldwide but this time the magnitude of leaving things for the last moment will only generate much pain and suffering to billions of people who will suffer natural disasters enhanced due to the intervention of man in his eagerness for excessive greed, we are living them day by day and the worst has not yet arrived.

The link with nature is practically broken, war conflicts and disagreements between different countries, regions, religions increases global pollution and the latter does not count in the overall balance of greenhouse gases (GHG), the arms industry seeks funds from taxpayers to keep alive the flame of discord, in this context it is worth mentioning the theory of Bonhoeffer, is based on four factors that determine human stupidity, such as: selfishness, ignorance, cowardice and greed. Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity cites selfishness as one of the fundamental laws of human stupidity; on the other hand, not even the technological advances of artificial intelligence will leave aside human stupidity, yet another challenge for the planet and for those of us who think differently.

It is convenient to quote the analysis of the world economic cost, according to the NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH in its article THE MACROECONOMIC IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE: GLOBAL VS. LOCAL TEMPERATURE (Economists Adrien Bilal and Diego R. Känzig Harvard University and Northwestern University 2024).

This paper estimates that the macroeconomic damages from climate change are six times larger than previously thought. We exploit natural variability in global temperature and rely on timeseries variation. A 1°C increase in global temperature leads to a 12% decline in world GDP Global temperature shocks correlate much more strongly with extreme climatic events than the country-level temperature shocks commonly used in the panel literature, explaining why our estimate is substantially larger. We use our reduced-form evidence to estimate structural damage functions in a standard neoclassical growth model. Our results imply a Social Cost of Carbon of $1,056 per ton of carbon dioxide. A business-as-usual warming scenario leads to a present value welfare loss of 31%. Both are multiple orders of magnitude above previous estimates and imply that unilateral decarbonization policy is cost-effective for large countries such as the United States.

In this aspect it should be mentioned that for certain groups, investors, managers, developers and even countries it will become a great business opportunity to protect nature, we only hope that the negotiations are given in the best terms and that it does not become an object of hoarding and conflicts, since the common goal is to save the planet.

The extreme weather events of the first months of the year in different parts of the world went from being special effects in science fiction movies to a crude reality and as mentioned in this analysis, the economic costs worldwide will be astronomical due to the inaction of organizations and governments that claim to watch over the world's welfare.

The biggest challenge we face is real, no matter the place or social class, climate change will knock on every door, some will resist more and others less but we will all suffer its effects directly, but some of us are reluctant to think that there is still time to amend the damage caused, if you are one of those people, organizations or countries that seek to protect the planet and all the species that inhabit it join the team, together we will write a chapter of history recognized, not by bloodshed and conquest, but for the love of life, survival and the future of new generations.