What will it take to fight the climate crisis?
Money.
What will it take to fight the crisis in biodiversity?
Money.
What will it take to accelerate the transition to green energy, regenerative agriculture, ... ?
Money.
What will it take to...
I'm sure you understand where I'm going with this.
So why is so little happening to combat all the crises? Are we short of money, then? Well no, not really. But the rich countries prefer to spend it on unhealthy food, luxury goods, even bigger houses, weapons, subsidies for destructive crises increasing activities....
UN Biodiversity conference
Regarding the Cop16 'negotiations', the UN biodiversity conference taking place this week in Colombia, the biggest roadblock is that the North's promise to cough up $20 billion for the South by 2025 does not seem to be met.
Monday was “finance day”, but only $163 million was pledged by eight countries, an amount I describe as 'pitiful' compared to what needs to be delivered. The $20 billion is essential to enable developing countries to finance the protection of their globally important ecosystems.
And that $20 billion is only a small part of the pie. The UN says the global nature funding gap is $700 billion - the amount needed to sustainably manage biodiversity and stop the destruction of ecosystems and species. This may seem like a very large amount, but to put it in perspective, it is significantly less than the amount the US spends on military funding each year... In 2023, the US military spent approximately $820.3 billion !
Just imagine what we could do with that amount of real money to protect and restore biodiversity...
Pledges
And of the pitiful amount pledged -let's note: pledged, not even actually paid yet- some of this money is also effectively spent on nonsense projects*. And a very large portion in loans. Are we really helping the global South solve a crisis largely caused by the global North, by making their debt burden even bigger? Isn't this the newest form of colonialism?
* " The devil is in the detail, because it is not just about quantity - quality is equally important. There is no globally agreed definition of biodiversity finance. For example, a project to give food aid relating to the war in Ukraine was counted under biodiversity funding, Campaign for Nature reported. "
Isn't it time for the rich countries, roughly the global north, to pay its debt to the earth, effectively to the global south, by granting solid sums of money rather than giving loans?
Footprint of the rich
Meanwhile, Oxfam has figured out that the high CO2 emissions of the world's richest 1% worsens hunger, poverty and mortality, according to a report.
Unfortunately, they again focused only on CO2, and not on the total ecological footprint. And yet greenhouse gas emissions are only 1 of the 6 planetary boundaries (almost 7), out of a total of 9, that we have crossed.
Anyway, they have once again confirmed that through the way they spend their money on luxury yachts, private jets and investments in polluting industries, the consumption of the world's very richest people, the billionairs, also makes it virtually impossible to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Because of course the billionaires take the crown when it comes to CO2 emissions and ecological footprint.
But make no mistake, that richest 1% are not just the billionaires. That 1% consists of anyone with an income over $140.000 a year.
And it is not so vague and noncommittal: “It's not just unfair that their reckless pollution is fueling the crisis that threatens our collective future - it's deadly.”
Overconsuming kills, in other words. Not only in the future. Now.
And the rest of us?
The findings are the latest in a series of annual carbon inequality reports from Oxfam.
As the Guardian also reported last year, “the richest 1% - who mostly live climate-isolated, air-conditioned lives, mostly in the world's north - produce as much carbon pollution as the 5+ billion people who make up the poorest and most vulnerable two-thirds of the human population, who live mostly in poorer countries in the world's south.”
When I read that, and found nothing in the Oxfam report about the rest of the world's overconsuming population, I sent them an email and asked the following question:
” What percentage of the world's population lives on an oversized footprint, i.e. has an ecological footprint larger than 1 earth?
How do we ensure that those many hundreds of millions - or probably even: those several billions- people, after reading news reports about your publication, do not sit back and think that the richest 1% should solve the earth crisis? ”
So far, no answer...
New records
And we continue to break records. Although the EU claims to have reduced CO2 emissions by 2023 (I have not yet been able to verify whether it really is effectively reduced emissions, or the false and deceptive accounting reduction to net-zero), the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) tells us that global CO2 emissions rose to a new record in 2023.
But surely it had to be less to keep global warming within a fantasized limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius ?
Oh, and this could become a new record too:
" Alarm grows over ‘disturbing’ lack of progress to save nature at Cop16
Fears raised that biodiversity summit not addressing countries’ failure to meet a single target to stem destruction of natural world "
Denial
All this means that expectations among many for this month’s climate talks in Azerbaijan, are not high. In the meantime energy giants Shell and BP are both scaling back green investments because they don’t bring enough profit. But their fossil fuel activities do, even more and more.
So we see an increasing denial of the consequences of overconsumption, both in politics, in corporations, among consumers.
And who can you blame for the many climate deaths ? The government that can't protect you from drought and flooding? Or man who makes rivers straight, fields ever bigger and barer, who chops mountain slopes bare, allows the soil to erode, builds houses in riverbeds….
Meanwhile, the dead are being counted in Spain, with many still missing….
- o -
Sources and more info
The articles I used, for those who want to read more:
" Carbon emissions of richest 1% increase hunger, poverty and deaths, says Oxfam.
Consumption of world’s wealthiest people also making it increasingly difficult to limit global heating to 1.5C "
" Carbon Inequality Kills: Why curbing the excessive emissions of an elite few can create a sustainable planet for all "
" World Meteorological Organization Reports Record High Emissions for 2023 "
https://www.ecowatch.com/global-greenhouse-gases-emissions-wmo-2023.html
" Alarm grows over ‘disturbing’ lack of progress to save nature at Cop16.
Fears raised that biodiversity summit not addressing countries’ failure to meet a single target to stem destruction of natural world "
" The Planet Has Limits. So Must We. "
A very readable explanation of the importance and meaning of planetary boundaries.
https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/the-planet-has-limits-so-must-we
" EU emissions fall by 8% in steep reduction reminiscent of Covid shutdown
Decline over 2023, helped by switch to renewable power, means greenhouse gas pollution is now 37% below 1990 levels "
So how serious and expectant can we be about COP29, the coming UN Climate conference?
" Cop29 host Azerbaijan set for major fossil gas expansion, report says
Exclusive: Those with ‘interest in keeping world hooked on fossil fuels’ should not oversee climate talks, say report authors "
The Guardian view on climate-linked disasters: Spain’s tragedy will not be the last
(Editorial)
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Disclaimer
What I try to achieve with my climate and earth crisis inspired art and blog posts, is to paint a realistic picture of the state of the earth. Based on scientific publications, measurements and observations and common sense. Not colored by political considerations, profit, greed, excessive unfounded positivism or doomsday thinking, or conspiracy theories….
Prints of are available, please contact me for a quote, prices starting at €55 / US$60.
ALL WE NEED IS LESS CONSUMING
Through my artworks I ask you to reflect for a moment on the nature around you, on the beautiful feeling that nature can evoke. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !
So are you interested in more? Then read what I wrote about System Change, Man's impact on the earth, Organic Change, Regenerative Agriculture, Regeneration
Herzlichen Dank lieber Jacob für Dein tiefes Engagement und bestens recherchierte Daten über den desolaten Zustand unseres Planeten und dem erbärmlichen Verhalten von Verantwortlichen in Wirtschaft, Politik etc., natürlich auch von den Superreichen, die weiter
am Verprassen sind . Unfassbar eigentlich, den Koloss von Mißbrauch, gebrochenen Zusagen, missachtende Verantwortlichkeit auf höchsten Ebenen zu begreifen, zumal mit
zunehmenden Katastrophen, Kosten etc. immer weniger Menschen überhaupt verbrauchen können, also Gewinnverlust für Gesellschaften und zunehmend rechtspolitisches Gedankengut.
Oberflächlich betrachtet sieht Deine Kreation sogar fröhlich aus.
Eine bessere Zusammenfassung hätte ich selbst nicht schreiben können, liebe Ute. Vielen Dank dafür.
In der Tat sieht die Erde in dem Werk aus wie eine abgeschnittene Frucht, und das ist sie auch: eine Frucht, von der sich alles, was lebt, ernähren kann.
Das ursprüngliche Schema zeigt alles, was die Grenzen der Erde überschreitet, in einem alarmierenden Rot.
Vielleicht wäre es besser gewesen, die Erde nur in dem Teil grün sein zu lassen, in dem die Grenzen nicht überschritten wurden….
Dear Jacob,
again a great post! I just can underline Ute Kammerer’s comment!
Best wishes
Esther
Thank you very much Esther. Ute’s summary is indeed disturbingly accurate…
Danke Jacob, daß meine Zusammenfassung Deine Zustimmung hat, denn eigentlich
fehlen mir oft die Worte, wie ich Informationen über Zeitgeschehen benennen könnte.
Insofern finde ich Deine Darstellung genial.
Nur ein Beispiel über Extreme: mußte heute unbedingt in Heidelberg etwas Wichtiges erledigen und fühlte mich wie vor den Kopf geschlagen, wie vor lauter Menschenmassen ein normales, sogar langsames Gehen unmöglich war. Kenne ich eigentlich nur vor Weihnachten oder Festen. Mir drängt sich immer wieder der Vergleich zur Nachkriegszeit
auf, wo Erlebnis-Überkonsum-Sucht herrschte.
Danke, Ute. Die Worte kommen ganz natürlich, wenn mir ein Thema am Herzen liegt.
Ja, das können bedrückende Erfahrungen sein. Ich kann mich nicht erinnern, wann ich das letzte Mal in einer belebten Einkaufsstraße war. Es ist ein Extrem der Sucht, unter der so viele von uns leiden. Kaufen um des Kaufens willen.
Tja Jacob, Kaufen um des Kaufens und Amüsieren willens, also kurzfristige Verdrängung !
Genau, liebe Ute…