Blah Blah Blah

There comes a time when political leaders should set aside personal political ambitions and focus on global objectives that address global challenges. Recently few if any political leaders have been able to follow such instincts, preferring short term political gains over long term objectives. 

This is true today when leaders are unable to find a more impactful, effective balance between short term economic growth and national political interests and the future wellbeing of humanity.

This was apparent at the recent COP27 (United Nations Climate Conference) in Egypt last week, when a number of member states refused to consider ending dependence on fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal, and focus on the widespread use of renewable energy. We are reaching a critical point in our existence when global warming is already causing serious natural disasters all over the world and leading to countless deaths and widespread suffering.

Hurricanes, major storms, drought, severe flooding, and choking smog are affecting us all, especially in developing countries whose infrastructures cannot cope with major natural disasters. 

At COP27, developing countries focused on demanding a loss and damage fund to cover losses arising from natural disasters arising from climate change they argue is the result of industrial countries’ carbon emissions. This could amount to billions of dollars per year. 

While an agreement was reached to create such a fund, no mention was made with respect to the source of funding, how much funding would be required, and how it would be managed.

Acccording to UN figures, this could cost upwards of $130 billion per year in 2030 and up to $565 billion by 2050 if climate change accelerates.

So, more blah blah blah.

Countries were unable to find ways to agree on mitigating the causes for climate change. Frankly, no real progress has been made since last year’s COP in Glasgow. Rather, coal producing and using states continue to use coal to fuel electricity generation, and oil producing states continue to invest in exploiting new oil fields, and building pipelines. Although many countries are creating new renewable energy sources, these efforts are not enough to mitigate and reduce global warming.

While one might say that we will be dependent on fossil fuels for some time, the rapid rise in popularity of electric vehicles and the constantly evolving clean energy technology calls for the creation of clean energy support structures globally to service electrical vehicles.

To be sure, the UN announced plans to deploy transformative technologies to counter the climate crisis. This will cost $3.1 billion but have not seen where the funding is coming from.

More blah blah blah?

According to Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, “As the world looks to step up efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, efforts that are still not anywhere strong enough, it must also step up its game to adapt to climate change”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lamented that “we need to drastically reduce emissions now — and this is an issue that COP didn’t address”.

This despite the approximately 40,000 delegates who attended the conference! Their carbon footprint was not mitigated by any of the decisions arising from the conference.

Makes for a lot of blah blah blah.

COP 27is a prime example as to why global confidence in the UN and in leaders everywhere is at an all time low.

Many talk the talk, but few walk the walk.

The global system is broken, many national leaders have not done enough and remain wed to their own personal goals of reelection and avoiding compromising their popularity by implementing hard decisions. 

What we need are leaders who can understand the issues and possible solutions. Leaders who are persuasive and committed to seeking common ground to move ahead among stakeholders and with one another. Leaders who can craft balanced domestic and international policies and who can “sell’ a vision to voters so as to maintain societal “buy in” and stability during this difficult but necessary transition.

Absent this, we will continue to endure the endless blather of national leaders and their pollution promoting patrons while we all travel together on a pathway to hell. 

As I have repeatedly said, blah blah blah. 

[email protected]

Keep reading: Africa

Edición: Laura Espejo