United States and China decided to face the climate change problem and sealed a deal to reduce their emissions in a substantial manner before the year 2030.
It is a pact of great importance, which allows them to arrive with a firmer ground to the Climate Change Conference that will take place in Paris next year 2015, moment in which it is expected to achieve a global protocol that will substitute the one from Kyoto. The Chinese-American commitment should also serve as an example to other countries such as Australia, Canada, Brazil, India or Russia.
Despite the warnings coming from scientists around the world, despite the worrisome UN report on the terrible consequences of emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide product of fossil fuels, it was not easy to achieve this agreement.
Xi Jinping and Chinese leaders tried in the past to dodge responsibilities shielding themselves behind the fact that China was an emerging market and US big business linked to the most polluting companies have invested millions to vanish the alarms coming from experts.
The reluctance of Chinese rulers responds to the concern over the cost that will mean having to change in a few years and without affecting its development, an economic model based on intensive use of coal and oil.
The current US administration repeatedly showed larger apertures addressing the problem of global warming. There are recent statements by Secretary of State John Kerry who, after the submission of the reports of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) said: «Whoever answers the studies on climate threatens future generations».
But, nonetheless, Obama has decided to sign this agreement on one of his weakest moments and knowing it will face opposition from Republicans who hold the majority in the House and Senate. It is an effort that deserves appreciation and solidarity.
The health of the Earth got much worse in 2013, the year in which the concentration of CO2, the gas that contributes to global warming, reported a greater increase than in the last 30 years.
The devastating consequences of droughts, floods, lack of drinking water caused by global warming will cause according to UNHCR (UN Agency for Refugees) a massive displacement of people. It is estimated that between 250 million and 1,000 million people around the world will lose their homes or may be forced to move from country to country over the next 50 years.
These are data that require serious thought and an awareness not only by politicians but also by civil society. The massive march called «People’s Climate Mobilization” that spread just as a human octopus in the streets of New York, was a great demonstration of a massive awareness of this problem. On that occasion the presence of Latinos was very large, and it showed signs of all kinds, such as huge paper maché dolls, flags.
Coral Davenport, in an article for the New York Times, writes that the majority of Hispanics living in the US, especially youth and women, believe in the need to pursue policies to stop the effects of climate change and support politicians willing to do it.
It could not be otherwise. The Latino community is aware of the risks that the world is facing if politicians continue to bury their heads in the sand and the capitals continue to dictate the governments’ agendas.
Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the areas most affected by climate change impacts.
Droughts and floods devastate large areas. The disappearance of Andean snowcap in Bolivia or Peru and the rising sea levels in the tropical Caribbean Sea are a time bomb that threatens large populations. Considering that, several countries in Latin America, among which stand out Chile, Colombia and Peru, are increasingly investing in producing energy without carbon emissions. According to a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Chile will generate 20 times more wind energy by 2030 and in Peru, solar energy already produces more than 5 million of dollars.
Regardless, Latin America must face the great problem of the indiscriminate logging of forests and the equally indiscriminate granting of portions of territory for the extraction of minerals, oil and gas.
In Brazil, deforestation increased in 2013 and in Peru over 40 percent of some of the country’s area is intended for concessions in mining, oil and gas. Both logging in Brazil and mining in Peru develop in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples and local communities.
These activities threaten to end the life of these communities, as well as destroying the vast wealth of biodiversity and trees, which are extremely important because they retain up to 45% of carbon dioxide-the main greenhouse gas effect- there is in the world to turn into oxygen.
The problem of global warming is severe and requires serious awareness by all countries, their people and their rulers.
Water for example is one of the assets at risk. Humanity can do without many things but cannot survive the lack of water. We live in a finite world with finite resources.
This is the reason why Obama must receive maximum support and also all politicians who show serious interest in promoting policies to mitigate the effects of global warming. The signing of the resolution between China and the United States represents an important step in this direction.
The gravity of the situation that experts have explained in detail, requires urgent decisions. Not only the future of younger generations depends on it, but the present of all of us. And no government can take them without the support, the drive, the solidarity of the civil society, meaning, all of us.
Translated by Raizel López