MADRID, Dec 17 (IPS) – Planet Earth is drying up, relentlessly. More than three-quarters of all countries have been permanently dry for the past thirty years. This is not just a statistic but a solid scientific fact. But while such an ‘existential crisis’ affects almost every region, guess where -and who- are most affected?
They are 1.35 billion people living in dry areas of Asia, which is more than half of the world’s total. And they are 620 million people who live in the dry areas of Africa, e.g. almost half of the continent’s population.
The above are some of the important findings of a global scientific study defined by the Bonn-based UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Crimes Committed by People
A report by the UNCCD Science-Policy Interface (SPI) – the UN’s body for evaluating the science of land degradation and drought – points to human-caused climate change as the main cause of this change.
“Greenhouse gas emissions from power generation, transportation, industry and land use are warming the planet and other human activities are warming the planet and affecting precipitation, evaporation and plant life, creating conditions that increase drought.”
According to the global scientific community, desiccation is considered one of the world’s five main causes of land degradation (along with soil erosion, salinization, loss of organic carbon and vegetation degradation).
The Drylands Are Spending at an Alarming Rate
The general trend, however, is clear: dry areas are expanding, forcing the environment and communities to suffer aridity’s life threatening effects.
The report names South Sudan and Tanzania as tribes with the largest percentage of the world changing to arid zones, and China as the country facing the largest amount of land changing from non-arid to arid zones.
Billions Living on Expanding Pasture
For the 2.3 billion people – more than 25% of the world’s population – living in increasingly dry areas, this new normal requires sustainable, flexible solutions. Desertification-related land degradation, known as desertification, represents a major threat to human well-being and environmental stability, a study warns.
“And as the planet continues to warm, worst-case projections suggest that as many as 5 billion people could live in drylands by the end of this century, facing depleted soils, dwindling water sources, and the decline or collapse of once fertile land. ecosystems.”
One Million People Forced to Migrate by Climate
About a decade ago, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that the number of climate migrants and refugees could reach one billion in the coming decades.
Now, according to scientific findings, forced migration is one of the aridity’s very visible results.
“As the world becomes depopulated, families and entire communities facing water shortages and agricultural collapse often have no choice but to leave their homes, leading to social and political challenges around the world.”
From the Middle East to Africa and South Asia, millions are on the move—a trend that will only increase in the coming decades.
“Without concerted efforts, billions face a future of hunger, displacement, and economic decline,” warned Nichole Barger, Chair, UNCCD Science-Policy Interface.
Total Impunity for Polluters
According to the European Union (EU) the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) is a simple idea at the core of the EU’s environmental policy: those responsible for environmental damage must pay to cover the costs.
“This applies to pollution prevention, remediation, liability (criminal, social and environmental) and costs imposed on society for pollution that occurs.”
Such a PPP was far from implemented, on the contrary: it was systematically prohibited.
The most recent evidence of such denial is the outcome of the Baku, Azerbaijan climate conference (COP29).
“The Global Ponzi Scheme”
Perhaps one of the clearest proofs is what the global coalition to fight inequality: OXFAM International, said at the end of the Baku meeting.
Responding to the COP29 climate finance agreement, where rich countries agreed to pool $300 billion a year to help southern African countries deal with warming temperatures and switch to renewable energy, Oxfam International’s Climate Change Policy Leader, Nafkote Dabi, said:
“The poor outcome of the Baku climate talks shows that the rich countries view the Global South as ultimately expendable, like pawns on a chessboard…
… The 300 billion dollar so-called ‘deal’ that poor countries have been bullied into accepting is absurd and dangerous—a soulless victory for the rich, but a real disaster for our world and communities that are being flooded, starved, and displaced today by climate change….
And as for promises of future funding? They are as void as the agreement itself.”
Real PPP: The “Poor Pays Principle”
“The money on the table isn’t just a pittance compared to what’s really needed – it’s not even real ‘money’, often,” warns OXFAM.
“Rather, a combination of loans and private investment – a global Ponzi scheme for private vultures and public relations that people will now exploit.”
The destruction of our planet is avoidable, but not with this horrible and shameful deal. The richest polluters need to smarten up—and pay.”
No, rather…
Did you know that billionaires emit more carbon pollution in 90 minutes than the average person in a lifetime.
And that Europe’s superyachts and executive jets emit more carbon pollution in a week than the poorest 1% emit in a lifetime.
Scientific findings show that drought is affecting large areas of wealthy Western nations – the ones that pollute the most.
All of the above goes beyond semantics: when talking about polluters, they’re just talking about money. But when it comes to dirty, it’s about destruction, disease… and death.
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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