Meanwhile, an environment right activist and Director of Home of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, has said there is no excitement at the COP.
Bassey, who is a member of one of the civil societies attending the COP in Madrid, in an article tagged “No Excitement at the COP” said in the build-up to the COP, the UNFCCC had vigorously tried to build optimism around the processes, but they do not appear to have lit any fires.
“The theme declares ‘Time for Action’, but there is no sign that nations are ready to act in a way that is in consonance with science and the social realities of the people.”
He said the message from the Pope that four years after the Paris Agreement, the urgency needed to tackle the climate emergency does not appear to have caught on with governments and that the church was considering adding ecological sins to its doctrine, was not well received by some.
“Polluters and climate deniers certainly would not applaud such an engagement of the church in what they consider purely secular matters. However, we cannot but accept that irreversible ecological damage or ecocide, is not only a crime against humanity but also affects our spiritual wellbeing,” he added.
While noting that the Pope also stated that there is no clarity on how the costs of tackling the menace will be distributed, he wondered if there was the needed political will to face the crisis. Bassey added that they are very weighty comments that cannot be ignored.
Also, he said the UNFCCC has so far avoided talking on the need to keep fossils in the ground even though its own reports showed that there must be a phase out of the dirty fuels.
Civil society groups led by Oilwatch International, according to him, have called for fossils to be left in the ground right from late 1990s, saying, the proposal suggested that the Annex Zero countries or communities should be supported with a series of international incentives.
The creation of Annex Zero will also incentivize new commitments and tackle climate change at source.
“Considering that powerful nations have the tendency to ignore historical and current climate obligations and are even ready to walk away from global commitments, it is time to applaud and encourage those that leave the fossils in the ground as a clear climate action,” he said.
Their sacrifices could also possibly pay for the ecological sins of repentant eco-devourers, and also help bring climate outlaws to book.
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