COP21 was a successful political coup. The business world is rubbing their hands. The scientists were half heard. Civil society is not sure whether to settle for the full part of the glass. But thank God, the survival of the planet does not depend on men.
Because there is reason to despair if we are looking for the concrete results of COP21. This is the minimum common denominator that emerged from the countless compromises. We left for more than 2.7oC of temperature increase: this is the truth that we refuse to admit. To reach 1.5oC as required by the most vulnerable countries, among others, it would logically be necessary to design the abandonment of fossil fuels before 2050 everywhere in the world. And emissions should therefore begin to decline globally by 2020, even if growth takes off in India and China in particular. In paragraph 20, it is stipulated that it is only in 2018 that we will tackle this. And even then the constraints under Article 4.12 are not part of the Paris agreement. Worse, the countries responsible for climate change are not legally obliged to compensate the losses and damages to the afflicted countries. It is only in 2020 that the fuzzy funding of 100 billion dollars annually comes into play. Who will contribute and who will benefit? James Hansen, the pioneer of climate change awareness through a “fraud”.
In this context, even if time is short, the most optimistic will speak of “momentum”, of a snowball effect, of something that would have changed now after COP21. And why not after all should we not believe in miracles? Despite a sharp drop in oil prices, renewable energies have never performed so well in the world. Let us therefore dare to believe that it is possible to do the impossible.
At the level of our country, let us have the audacity to move towards 100% renewable energies by 2050. A thousand mayors and regional managers have adopted this vision in Paris. Rodrigues, Agaléga and the “smart-cities” can achieve this objective more quickly. We need a new energy policy that carries this ambition instead of being tempted by an LNG “lock-in” which would be just as pernicious as that represented by coal. Let’s create a synergy between energy efficiency and renewables, systemically integrating the sectors of transport, construction, cane industry, integrated waste management, ocean economy including the perspective of regional co-development .
We are asked to believe that COP21 was a success. We prefer to believe that 100% renewable energy by 2050, if not sooner, is an achievable goal at least for our Republic. Let’s revolt for this!
