They just don’t give up. Seems kinda cultish. This is MarÃa Fernanda Espinosa, a former president of the United Nations general assembly
The climate crisis should be at the heart of the global Covid recovery
In the early hours of 12 December, 2015, I stood together with world leaders to welcome the adoption of the Paris agreement on climate change. Years of negotiations and frustrating setbacks were capped by a two-minute round of applause for French foreign minister Laurent Fabius as he banged the gavel and ushered in an ostensibly greener, more sustainable future.
This would be the same Paris that has mostly failed
But the greatest opportunity for action against the climate crisis may be the Covid-19 pandemic. This episode in history has been a tragedy: nearly 70m people have been infected globally, and more than 1.5 million have so far lost their lives. The virus has been the cause of the gravest socio-economic crisis since the second world war, with trillions poured into economic relief. For now, providing healthcare and economic relief to those affected should be the priority.
But it’s imperative that resources directed at the Covid recovery also accelerate action against the climate crisis, a threat no less urgent than this pandemic. Some politicians have already followed this reasoning: France’s president Emmanuel Macron was among the first out of the gate when his government refused to give stimulus funds to airlines that would not take steps to drastically reduce emissions.
Such measures aren’t just necessary – they’re popular. If governments are spending incredible resources on reducing unemployment and kickstarting the economic recovery, it’s only fair that those resources go towards building societies that are greener, sustainable and more resilient, rather than redoubling on the fragile models of the past. We should be expanding mass renewable energy, installing electric car charging stations, reforesting, and retrofitting homes, to name just a few examples.
Nothing like using the misery and fear of the Common Folks to push an authoritarian cult, eh? Who’s seen these same elites practice what they preach?
