argia.eus
INPRIMATU
COP21
Mikel Zurbano 2015eko abenduaren 02a

The multidimensional crisis we live in shows the limits of global capitalism. Capitalism is in crisis in the economic, in the social, in care, also in the ecological. Compensation for the current liberal management of capitalism is a multisectoral crisis and its most serious expression can be environmental damage. In particular, climate change is the great mirror of the ecological crisis and its great capacity for influence, as it has built a global awareness claiming the need for a response to it.

The responsibility of the Governments of the Western developed countries is clear and so far have not taken the necessary measures to deal with the phenomenon and make the decarbonisation process irreversible. Much has been said in recent years about the absence of the Kyoto Protocol. The response to climate change has not been given all attention in the response that should be given by social movements and the world of work. Naomi Klein says that we have to realize that the industrial revolution that brought prosperity to our society is calling into question all the natural systems that sustain life. Estimates by many organizations anticipate that the global impact of warming will be very serious throughout this century if there are no changes in economic dynamics and paradigm. For example, the International Energy Agency estimates that the temperature of the end of the century will rise to six degrees.

The traces of warming are already visible, but if the global average temperature increased by two more degrees, the homes of 280 million people would be flooded and a four-degree rise could exceed 600 million people. The climate change summit, COP21, begins in Paris on 30 November. The intention of this summit is to go beyond the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and sign another binding for countries. The aim is that global warming should not exceed the two-degree barrier to the pre-industrial era, and to this end countries should make a firm commitment to reducing pollutant emissions.

However, as we have seen in the processes of meeting and rapprochement between countries so far on the way to the summit, this objective will be difficult to achieve. Over 150 of the 195 UN countries have advanced their contribution to the fight against climate deregulation, which promises a dark future. First of all, such contributions will be voluntary and therefore not binding. Moreover, these national commitments would avoid a temperature increase of more than 2.7 degrees by 2030 and, according to experts, this high number would prevent the temperature rise from reaching the 2 degrees by the end of the century. Trade unions, NGOs and social movements also denounced this weak commitment in an alternative study presented on 20 October in the city of Bonn.

For the transition of the low-carbon and carbon-free energy model, it is necessary to link the two main objectives of the COP21 summit with all guarantees, but it is not enough. Consideration must also be given to other criteria outside the summit scenario, such as the abandonment of fossil fuel subsidies, real funding to developing countries or absolute commitment to renewable energy.