The past is not just a prologue, but an omen. And 2024, crowned as the hottest year ever recorded, screams in our faces the urgency of acting against Climate Change. With an average temperature 1.6ºC above pre-industrial levels, we have exceeded the 1.5ºC threshold established in the Paris Agreement, a figure that was not a goal to reach, but a limit to avoid.
The European Copernicus service, with the coldness of scientific data, confirmed what many of us already felt on our skin: extreme heat that devastated entire regions, prolonged droughts that devastated crops, and fires that turned landscapes into hell. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the UN, once again raised his voice, with the frustration of someone who sees an announced disaster approaching: "We must get off this path to devastation. We have no time to lose." His words, although repeated, resonate with the force of an uncomfortable truth that many insist on ignoring.
The scientific community, with overwhelming unanimity, agrees that we are playing with fire. Climate change is not a hypothesis, but a palpable reality, a tangible threat to future generations. But while scientists warn, others are getting rich from inaction.
The extreme right, with its climate denialism, and the big oil companies, with their excessive economic power, block any attempt at real change. Their short-sightedness and short-term greed mortgage the future of the planet for immediate profits.
Meanwhile, time is running out. While it is true that progress has been made in renewable energies, such as solar and wind, the speed of change is insufficient. We continue to burn fossil fuels at an alarming rate, feeding the beast of global warming with our addiction to carbon.
In the photo below you can see some BBC graphics on global warming in recent years:
In the face of this panorama, it is difficult to remain optimistic. The news is discouraging, the obstacles seem insurmountable, and political inertia is desperate. But pessimism is a surrender, a capitulation in the face of adversity. And surrender is not an option.
The fight against climate change is not a lost battle, but a war that we can still win. It requires a radical change in our economic and political structures, a profound transformation of our consumption model. We need brave leaders, with a vision of the future, capable of making difficult decisions and of promoting ambitious policies. We need a committed citizenry, aware of the seriousness of the problem and willing to demand concrete actions.
But the sad reality is that most people remain oblivious to the magnitude of the challenge. Immersed in the whirlwind of everyday life, worried about their daily problems, they seem to ignore the threat looming over the future of their children and grandchildren. And our leaders, instead of warning and mobilizing, prefer to keep the population asleep, plunged into a false sense of security.
Why this inaction? Why this indifference to what is coming? Perhaps the answer lies in human nature, in our tendency to prioritize the present over the future, in our difficulty in understanding the complexity of global problems. Or perhaps it is simply due to a lack of leadership, the absence of a long-term vision, the primacy of particular interests over the common good.
Whatever the reason, the result is the same: a dangerous inaction that brings us ever closer to the precipice. Global warming is not an abstract problem, but a reality that is already affecting millions of people around the world. Droughts, floods, heat waves, forest fires, climate migration: the consequences of climate change are becoming more visible, more tangible, more devastating.
We cannot continue to look the other way. We cannot continue to postpone difficult decisions. We cannot continue to sacrifice the future on the altar of the present. Time is running out. The window of opportunity to avoid the worst effects of Climate Change is closing. It is time to wake up from our slumber, to assume our responsibility, to demand real change. The future of humanity is at stake. And we cannot afford to fail.
Will we do it ?
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