Protect ecosystems instead of paying the IMF | Events at the summit of environment ministers

This Thursday the joint meeting of G-20 environment ministers, whose focus was support for the decarbonisation program in electricity production. The colored note was displayed outside the Hotel de Naples where the meetings were held. The The Avaaz organization took advantage of this and organized a demonstration with Diego Maradona masks, Neapolitan idol, to strengthen the proposal of the Argentine government regarding the implementation of actions to swap public debt for environmental protection and support investments in favor of the energy transition.

The ministerial meeting took place in the presence of Head of the Environment portfolio, Juan Cabandié. “We must have an honest dialogue to build agreements aiming to design innovative mechanisms which allow an urgent start of actions for the environment and for the climate”, declared the person in charge, evoking in particular the need to “promote a debt conversion for environmental and climate action”.

“This exchange is made up of countries preparing mitigation and adaptation plans strong and ambitious according to their national conditions and circumstances and that part of the debt be devoted to its effective implementation. The benefits of these investments will allow an economic recovery in line with the commitments made under the Paris Agreement, ”Cabandié explained.

Environmental exchange

The demonstration of Avaaz in the streets of Naples was accompanied by a campaign on social networks and in the newspaper Financial Time. The organization’s complaints consist of a “call for the rich countries of the G20 to recognize their ecological debt and to commit concrete funding to actions aimed at mitigating climate change and biodiversity loss ”.

“It is becoming more and more clear that protecting the environment is the only way to stabilize our economies, an idea that has been recognized by the finance ministers of the G-20, indicating that these are urgent priorities, “he explained. Oscar Soria, Avaaz Campaign Manager. The organization’s proposal is in line with that of the national government.

The organization warns that “the president of the 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change, Briton Alok Sharma, has a powerful set of tools to ensure that 50% of available funds are spent quickly on climate adaptation. , because negative environmental impacts have become more and more severe, not only in developing countries, but also here in Europe. “

One of Avaaz’s specific claims is that “The United States is making urgently available 100 billion dollars of climate finance “and that the northern country exercises “all his influence to force financial reform so that the money intended to pay the sovereign debt is now intended to pay the ecological debt, paying particular attention to the double crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss ”.

The role of the South

“Developing countries should not wait, but must make proposals for change the rules that generate inequalities and destructive incentives for the environment. In this sense, the ministers Juan Cabandié of Argentina and Barbara Creecy of South Africa are perceived not only as human rights defenders but also as potential interlocutors of the countries of the South to present a vision which underlines that the economic recovery, social and ecological go hand in hand. . . AArgentina and South Africa have the opportunity and the responsibility to lead the call of the countries of the South to recognize the ecological debt contracted by the rich countries and reorienting sovereign debt finance towards a fair and green recovery for developing countries, ”Soria said.

The organization recalled that “the world is facing a unprecedented climate crisis: There is severe flooding in the north and rising temperatures increasing forest fires at various latitudes. Currently in Argentina, the Paraná River is experiencing the greatest decline in the past 70 years, resulting in droughts and other effects on the populations that depend on this tributary ”.

The countries that make up the G-20 represent a 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main culprits of global warming. In these countries, subsidies to promote activities harmful to the environment were at least five times greater than the expenses incurred to protect ecosystems.