The collapse of the Earth is getting closer | A …

The United Nations (UN) has issued a clear and forceful warning: the planet is heading for climate, health and social collapse. But he also highlighted the solution (which is still possible): reduce greenhouse gas emissions (responsible for climate change), reduce consumption levels, protect water and biodiversity (among others). Here are some of the conclusions he has published in his report "Perspectives on the Global Environment". In various sections, the UN warns that, if there are no radical and urgent changes, the consequences will be devastating. "We are causing climate change and biodiversity loss, there will be no tomorrow for many people unless we stop," said Joyce Msuya, executive director of UN Environment.

The United Nations Environment Assembly is the largest international space on the subject. It met last March in Kenya and presented the research "Global Environmental Outlook 6", a photo of the climate: nine million people die each year from the pollution of the world. air and water; since 1970, 40% of wetlands have disappeared and the world population of vertebrates has been reduced by 60%.

Since 1880, the global temperature has increased between 0.8 and 1.2 degrees Celsius. And, in the last decade, there have been eight of the hottest ten years in history. He warns that the temperature of the Arctic will increase by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius by 2050, a situation that will "devastate" the region and raise the level of the oceans around the world. Land in danger of degradation covers 29% of the planet's land, which is home to 3,200 million people.

One of the slogans of the report, which counts 745 pages, is "A healthy planet, healthy people". It is estimated that 2,300 million people (one in three of the world's population) do not have access to adequate sanitation services. Every year, 1.4 million people die from preventable diseases (such as diarrhea) badociated with the consumption of contaminated drinking water.

In the conclusions, the UN is concrete: "Human (human) activities have degraded the Earth's ecosystems and undermined the ecological foundations of society". It states that it is "necessary to take urgent measures of an unprecedented scale to end the situation and reverse this situation and thereby protect the human health and the health of the people." environment". Some of the key measures are to reduce land degradation, loss of biodiversity and pollution of the air, soil and water; improve water management, mitigate climate change and reduce the use of fossil fuels.

Climate change is the product of the increase in temperature due to human action and involves radical changes in the environment (floods, droughts, melting glaciers). The main cause is the emission of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2). The burning of fossil fuels (gas, oil, coal) is one of the main causes. The UN report focuses on climate change, but does not name those responsible. The main economic powers are the main culprits: 76% of emissions come from the G20 countries, led by China, the United States, the European Union, India, Russia, Japan and the United States. l & # 39; Germany.

The report recalls that climate change has direct and profound effects on the economy and society, "endangers livelihoods, exacerbates poverty and migration, and particularly affects vulnerable populations".

A criticism of the left that is generally made to the UN's diplomatic ambitions is to not highlight the economic causes of the environmental disaster. The report takes a step forward: "Current patterns of consumption, production and inequality are not sustainable". In various sections, it mentions consumption levels, particularly in developed countries. Naomi Klein, author of That Changes Everything, sums it up differently: "The problem is not climate change, but capitalism".

A common argument of agro-food companies (transgenic and agro-toxic) is that more food is needed for the growing population. The Via Campesina (international movement of small producers and natives) has been refuting it for decades: the problem is not the lack of food, but its unfair distribution. The United Nations is contributing in this direction: 33% of the world's food is lost or wasted. And 56% of these losses occur in developed countries.

The same week, the UN presented the report "Panorama of World Resources". Without mentioning it, he emphasizes the role of extractivism. "The rapid increase in material extraction is the main cause of climate change and biodiversity loss, a problem that will only worsen if the world does not undertake Emergency systemic reform of the use of resources. " It states that the extraction of natural resources has tripled from 1970 to the present day and that the use of fossil fuels has increased by 45%. He warns that to maintain the same path, by 2060, greenhouse gas emissions could increase by 43%. "Frankly, there will be no tomorrow for many people unless we stop," said Joyce Msuya, executive director of UN Environment.