The climate crisis is unfair

The climate crisis is unfair. Only a few countries are responsible for a great part of Greenhouse Gases Emissions. Some of these nations have a large historical footprint by becoming rich over centuries of fossil fuel burning and industrial production, and currently their populations emit a lot per person due to their lifestyle and consumption patterns. And all of us are paying the consequences.

However, it doesn’t affect us equally; climate change disproportionally affects poor people, despite being the least responsible for the emissions.

Progress in actions against the climate emergency is still insufficient. Many of these countries still do not comply with the established agreements. It is clear that without the willingness and actions of these nations, humanity will not be able to overcome the climate crisis. However, sometimes there’s a tendency to hold the individual accountable and redeem nations and companies from the impact of their actions, promoting individual solutions in a language of ease and simplicity. Since the inaction of these actors generates global impacts that affect the most vulnerable groups, collective mobilization is necessary to demand changes in companies and states’ practices. Collective actions must be followed to generate significant, structural and systemic changes.

Although, these circumstances do not absolve anyone from their responsibility, solutions must consider global inequalities in Greenhouse Gases Emissions to design and apply equitable adaptation and mitigation approaches. 

We, as society, must fight back climate change and it has to be a priority, because it’s a matter of justice and because it is the biggest existential risk we face. We must demand governments to center climate justice in all key policy decisions. We must hold large corporations accountable for their actions that contribute directly to the climate crisis and divest from all fossil fuel investments.

We must remove the influence of fossil fuel companies from key international climate agreements. We must turn this threat into an opportunity to foster innovation and collaboration. It's also time to tell new stories about the future we want to build, it’s time to wonder about where are going with this so-called progress that is destroying the environment and enriching a few.