DR IBRAHIM ALLADIN
Executive Director, Alladin Foundation
It’s that time of the year when world leaders and environmentalists gather to reflect and ponder on the state of the planet. The Arab Republic of Egypt is the host of the 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27), “with a view to building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambition to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change”. (UN Climate Change, 2022). 
A huge international gathering is expected for the month of November in the resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt. The COP has been meeting biennially since 2001 and has met at several locations setting targets to tackle the problem of climate change and environmental degradation. A quick snapshot would indicate that since the COP events, the world is in a worse state than before. This would then beg to ask the question: What has COP really accomplished? The short answer is not much, based on what is happening around the world. The Conference of Parties has become a large showcase, a photo opportunity for world leaders, to make ambitious statements and ending up in political bickering. My purpose here is not to evaluate the United Nations initiative on climate change, but to raise concern on three pressing issues: globalised greed, deforestation, and rural poverty. Climate change and environmental degradation are everyone’s concern. But what are we doing and are we holding those making decisions on the state of the planet accountable for getting us in this mess in the first place? I have yet to see an election fought on this issue. The recent victory of President Lula in Brazil could be an exception: he fought to stop or limit deforestation in Brazil.
Global greed
Mahatma Gandhi reminded us that “the earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs and not everyone’s greed… and there is enough on this planet for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed”.
There is a fetish for consumption. Driven by greed there is over production and over consumption of goods. In many cases, some goods that have little relevance. Take plastic for instance. How much plastic products are produced and consumed? Plastic bottles are not easily disposed of. One commentator noted that “we are living in a plastic world”. Wrapping and overpackaging add to an existing problem. We are surrounded by plastic.
The rich nations lead by example, which the poorer nations are copying. Overconsumption in Europe or North America has led to some alarming conclusions. For example, the energy consumed per capita in countries like United States is a concern; or the amount of waste produced in Canada and shipped elsewhere to be disposed of is quite revealing. Why are consumers pushed to overconsume? One explanation is: marketing. The power of marketing by organised marketing companies is aimed at luring consumers to consume more. Events such as Christmas, New Year and Halloween are consumer driven. The ultimate objective for producers is profit. This obsession to consume has forced producers to destroy and to lapidate the earth’s resources and there is no limit to it. Deforestation and mining are examples. Consider how many pairs of shoes do you have and how many does one need? Think how we got there. Consumer education starts here.
There should not be any shortage of food. In fact, the opposite is true. There is overproduction but poor distribution and a pricing mechanism that cause poverty and shortages. For example, monocrop economies in Central or South America produce one or two items for consumers in North America. Wealthy farmers and landowners force peasants to grow coffee or bananas for international food chains. Land is cleared for monocrops. The rural farmer or peasant ends up in destitute.
Deforestation and rural poverty
Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are the three largest rainforest countries, with 52% of the world’s prime tropical rainforest. The three home to the Amazon, Congo Basin and Borneo, are threatened by commercial logging, overmining and illegal exploitation, signed an agreement at COP 26 to halt deforestation. All three are trying but are caught up in politics and pressures from multinational companies. Yet they know, it cannot continue any further. Brazil, for example, lost 1.55m hectares of prime rainforest in 2021. Deforestation is displacing the local peasants and natives, driving them out into poverty, malnutrition, and disease. In Brazil some indigenous communities are threatened with extinction. Overconsumption and global greed have tragic consequences.
To achieve zero deforestation, these three countries have proposed a strategy, namely, to form an alliance, to seek global solutions and support to preserve the existing rainforest. As an alliance, these nations, could lobby and solicit international funding for conservation which is key to limiting global heating to 1.5C. The alliance could make joint proposals on climate change and set their own targets for reducing carbon emissions. This will allow Brazil, Indonesia, and DRC to develop long-term plans and take over the entire management of their rainforests.
The idea of an alliance makes sense because they all have similar issues, and they could extend to other countries like Cambodia and Colombia. An alliance requires commitment and long-term objectives. For the alliance to work, it must set goals and commit others. Global warming is everyone’s concern. Poverty, displacing of communities and creating climate refugees will affect all nations. Global warming will impact this generation and generations to come. The mess must be cleaned now.
The COP meetings have shown that in the end it is about self-interest. The richer nations are imposing on the poorer nations and dictating the terms of reference. There is disagreement even among the larger players like USA, China, India, Great Britain. They have their own agenda, not necessarily, a global agenda. The war in Ukraine and the looming energy crisis in Europe is likely to take the agenda away from the main issue of climate change and global warming. The poorer nations and the vulnerable island states have to contend with their own griefs caused by global greed.
Huge financial resources are needed to overturn current policies on mining and deforestation. As the war looms in Ukraine and an economic crisis in Europe, can COP 27 provide the optimism to halt the destruction of the planet’s ecosystem? Across the world nature is dying and evidence is heartbreaking. The destruction is at such an alarming rate that everyone is a victim of climate change. Like its predecessors, COP 27 is yet another reminder that not much will happen in Sharm El-Sheikh for there isn’t a mechanism for overturning the playing field in favour of biodiversity and sustainability. The degradation will continue and while policy makers will be thinking of the next COP agenda, another chunk of the rainforest would have disappeared to appease global greed. Will the rainforest nations alliance be allowed to succeed? By the time COP 28 arrives, President Lula will be ready to give a report on the proposal for zero deforestation. Any strategy on deforestation much include the indigenous people; for without them, it will not succeed. As the rainforest disappears, they will also disappear. The President has vowed to include them in his plan.