With inaction in the fight against climate change, we are digging our own grave / Article

Latvian Radio correspondent Artyom Konohov’s report from the Glasgow summit00:00 / 03:21

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As the world warms, extreme weather events, such as droughts, heat waves, heavy rains and floods, are becoming more frequent. It has a huge impact on the human, animal and plant worlds.

Scientists warn that unless carbon emissions are reduced and temperature rises prevented, people will suffer even more severe consequences, as we have seen, for example, this summer in floods in Germany or uncontrolled forest fires in much of the world.

Neutralize the time bomb

During the two-week talks, the summit organizers hope that the countries of the world will come up with concrete action plans, as they are already going to limit CO2 emissions this decade.

The first day of the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow was full of speeches with harsh warnings about the need for urgent action.

“It’s time to say enough! It will be enough to destroy biodiversity. It will be enough to poison us with carbon. It will be enough to use nature as a toilet. It will be enough to burn and drill deeper and deeper.

“Our planet is changing before our eyes. From the depths of the ocean to the tops of the mountains, from the melting of glaciers to relentless, extreme weather. Sea levels are rising twice as fast as thirty years ago. The oceans are hotter than ever. Amazon rainforests now emit more carbon. than absorbed. “

The sirens are sounding.

Our planet is telling us something – and so are people everywhere.

We must listen — we must act — and we must choose wisely.

Choose ambition.

Choose solidarity.

Choose to safeguard our future and save humanity.#COP26 pic.twitter.com/XHXpTd1p3H

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) November 1, 2021

The host of the meeting, the Prime Minister of Great Britain Boris Johnson, compared the task of the leaders of the countries with what James Bond often has to do in the films – to neutralize the ticking bomb at the last minute.

“He usually reaches the climax of his very lucrative film, desperately trying to figure out which color wire to cut to stop the device that will cause the doomsday, but in the meantime, until the explosion, a red digital clock tickes without remorse. And we, my fellow global leaders, are in about the same position as James Bond. Except that the tragedy is that this is not a movie, but the device that caused the last day is very real. “

“I was in Copenhagen 11 years ago when we recognized that there was a problem. I was in Paris six years ago when we agreed on zero emissions and the need to try to limit temperature rises below one and a half degrees.

All these promises will be just blah-blah-blah, and the rage and impatience of the world will be unstoppable if we do not make this summit in Glasgow a moment when we are serious about climate change. “

The Paris Climate Agreement was signed six years ago. So far, however, it has largely remained on paper. European countries are one of the few exceptions that have taken practical steps and are therefore world leaders in this field.

Levits: A green country does not only mean green grass and forest

Before going to Glasgow, European Commission President Urzula von der Leiena said that the European example clearly shows that reducing CO2 emissions is not at odds with economic growth.

Latvia is represented at this event by President Egils Levits, who agrees that our country has yet to do serious homework.

“A green country does not mean that you look out the window and see that there are green bushes, green grass, green forest. This does not mean that the state is green in this sense, ”says Levits.

“That is why we, as a country with a population of less than two million (there are eight billion in the world), must contribute to this, I would say, save the world. I think that Latvia belongs to those countries where this awareness is not the highest, but still relatively high compared to other countries. ”

China and Russia are ignoring the problem

Levits said China is responsible for about 30% of the world’s air pollution. That is why it is important to find a way to get the country’s leadership to act. One of them could be with international trade tools.

Neither Chinese nor Russian leaders have arrived in Glasgow, and only remotely participated in the G20 talks last weekend. As US President Joe Biden said, Moscow and Beijing have not come up with any new climate proposals.

Delegates were also greeted by environmental activists and protesters in Glasgow. One of them called the leaders of the West colonial hosts. Various protests are expected to continue throughout the talks. Among others, the famous Swedish environmental activist Greta Tunberg will go on a march with local young people on Friday.

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