When future generations have left their coastal and low-lying homes, sought refuge from catastrophic wildfires and are choking on air quality that has culled those with poor lungs, they may very much look back in anger at these weeks at the end of the second decade of this century and point the finger of blame and regret: That’s when we could have done something to make a difference.
Could have; would have; should have. No, instead, delegates who gathered for two weeks in Madrid at the COP25 Summit to try and formulate a concrete plan on climate change, to try and agree limits on our greenhouse gases, to try and come up with a plan to fund the difference in the carbon emissions between developed and developing nations — failed us all.
We live now at a critical juncture in the history of this planet. We have little time to change the course of climate change. Global warming is a real, present and future danger to our planet. And right now, following the best intentions and failed actions of Madrid, we have squandered one of the few remaining opportunities to make a positive difference.
The summit showed a deep schism, too, between Europeans aligned with threatened island nations pushing for firm commitments against the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases who used every stalling tactic to simply do nothing and accept the status quo.
This United Nations climate summit was a bust, it broke down without any agreement on how the global carbon requirements of the Paris Agreement can be fulfilled. Yes, there was an attempt to reach a deal by extending the talks for two more days; and instead of real action there were just vague promises and a watered-down text that nations would enhance their emissions targets laid down in the Paris Agreement. Even the carbon-counting methodology under discussion divided politicians from activists.
The summit showed a deep schism, too, between Europeans aligned with threatened island nations pushing for firm commitments against the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases who used every stalling tactic to simply do nothing and accept the status quo.
Simply put, nations need to follow the example of the UAE in committing to real and positive action on the climate, reducing emissions, embracing renewable energy and putting the environment first.
The failure of Madrid is a failure for the planet. There are deniers who play a very dangerous game at a time when the real danger is that we will damage our planet beyond repair.
Our current stewardship will fail future generations. We needed action. We got hot air.
