The success of the international strategy regarding climate change will be measured in degrees. The objective is based on preventing the average temperature of the atmosphere from rising above 2ºC compared to what existed in pre-industrial times. To do this, we must reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere: the higher the level of concentration of these gases, the higher the temperature and climate destabilization.

According to a new study by Climate Central published in Nature Communications, by the year 2050 sea level will threaten more than 200,000 people along the entire coast of Spain. In Euskadi , Greater Bilbao could disappear as we know it; The risk map of said study shows situations as alarming as that Barakaldo could end up being an island, or that the land connection between Santurce and Bilbao would be non-existent.

This Tuesday another study was published in the journal < em>Bioscience signed by 11,000 scientists from 153 different countries (including Spain). The article shows that greenhouse gas emissions reached their all-time high in 2018, and that scientists have a moral obligation to warn against any threat, predicting “unspeakable suffering” for our society due to the climate crisis. By way of celebrating the anniversary of the climate summit in Geneva in 1979, the article recalls that “the crisis has come earlier and is accelerating more than scientists expected. And it is more serious than anticipated, threatening ecosystems and the future of humanity”.

NEXT STOP: CLIMATE SUMMIT (Madrid, December 2019)

Since the first World Climate Conference held in Geneva (Switzerland) 40 years ago, where alarming signs of climate change were detected, similar alerts have been repeated in historical events such as Rio de Janeiro (1992), the Kyoto Protocol (1997 ) and the Paris Agreement (2015). However, greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow rapidly.

Given the need to accelerate the implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, the office of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has decided that Madrid will host the next climate summit (COP25) that will take place on December 6 and 13, after Chile resigned from do it last week. Chilean President Sebastián Piñera announced on Wednesday, November 30 that the Andean country would not be able to control the streets of Santiago, where serious riots have been taking place for weeks. Said declaration was followed by the offer of the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, who offered to Madrid for the city to host the next COP25.

The summit against climate change is held every year in a different country and usually brings together more than 4,000 delegates and environmental activists for two weeks in the same city. The objective of COP25 is to prepare the ground for countries to submit contributions to combat climate change within the framework of the Paris Agreement. More specifically, it is intended to agree on measures to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and establish emission measurement criteria, among other goals. The summit will bring together experts from the scientific world, the private sector and political representatives to work in favor of climate action and the energy transition. The last days of the meeting will also be attended by the heads of government of the participating countries, thus increasing the international projection of the event.

NAIDER WILL ATTEND COP25

Naider’s commitment to the search for and implementation of solutions to climate change and the transition towards a low-carbon society goes back a long way. Given the critical situation we are experiencing, Naider will attend COP25 in Madrid in order to learn first-hand about new climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. Our objective, in addition to acquiring new first-hand knowledge about the problem in question, is to interact and establish bridges of collaboration with other key actors in the process of transforming our society. towards a low carbon system.

COP25 is the last stop towards the entry into force of the Paris Agreement. At Naider we believe that, as numerous studies show, time is running out and the growing urgency of our goals requires us to be more ambitious and demand more of ourselves. The time for action has come and a huge increase in large-scale efforts is needed to conserve the biosphere and create a society that is more resilient, adaptable and integrated with the natural environment on which we depend.

Julen González Redín
PhD in Sustainable Development
NAIDER