Climate change is real. A global and equal solution is needed.
This December Paris will host the 21st United Nations Climate Conference. The main objective will be to achieve an international agreement between the 195 countries that are going to participate for reduce the GHGs emissions. The problem? Not all the countries have the same goals and without this international cooperation, we all will face huge damages and risks from the climate change. The transformation of economic growth towards a lower dependency on fossil fuels and related GHG emissions is necessary for the viability of a successful global climate strategy.
According to several OECD reports, if we do not adapt our environmental behaviour, the global temperature could increase 1.4 to 5.8ºC and the global sea level could rise by 9-88 centimetres by 2100. Unless this data may seem for many people like minor changes, they will have several adverse effects. Our ecosystems, unable to adapt to changing temperatures, will be harmed tremendously. These ecosystems, which provide us with natural resources in order to produce goods and services, are necessary for our economic development. So, at some point damaging these resources will implicate the long-term stagnation of human ability to maintain the lifestyle that we are currently living.
Years ago it was unimaginable to reduce GHG emissions without affecting negatively the economic growth. However, there is some hope for our future. The year 2014 was the first in decades that has shown a worldwide economic growth and a reduction of energy related to GHGs emissions. That demonstrates that developed countries have the possibility to invest in renewable energies to reduce their emissions.
And the developing countries, do they have the same opportunities? Do they have a real chance in order to avoid these risks? According to an article by the “The Guardian” Low-income countries will remain on the frontline of human-induced climate change over the next century, experiencing gradual sea-level rises, stronger cyclones, warmer days and nights, more unpredictable rains, and larger and longer heatwaves. However, developing countries do not have a history of large emissions of green house gases and thus have not contributed significantly to the causes of climate change, this countries are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts. They have a fewer resources to adapt: socially, technologically and financially. So it is in the responsibility of the industrialized countries, which have caused the problem, to support the people in the developing countries to mitigate climate risks and to enable them to adapt to the negative effects of climate change.
Most of the developing countries are rich of natural resources and also have a high potential to produce renewable energies in the future. In cooperation with industrialized countries these resources can be used to provide sustainable and clean energy for developing countries but also for industrialized countries and thus creating sustainable business opportunities and a better future for everyone. Strategic planning and capacity building are also needed to reduce the risk of disasters and raise the resilience of communities.
Hopefully we will manage climate change and succeed, but unfortunately this is not the only challenge we are facing. Inequalities, in terms of access to resources and thus barriers for economic development will remain and developing countries will again have to catch up. The only solution could be a proper international cooperation in order to reach sustainable development on a global scale, where social equity, economic productivity and environmental quality are consistent. We also have to take into account that developing countries have very different individual circumstances and that the specific impacts of climate change on a country depends on the climate it experiences as well as its geographical, social, cultural, economic and political situations.
1 comentario /
30 Nov 2015
por
mbarahona
IMSD /
#climatechange, #globalwarming, COP21
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