Politicians, activists, celebrities and personalities, including Prince William and Pope Francis, this Saturday, October 10, called for action at all levels to resolve the climate crisis in the current decade, linking it to economic and racial inequalities, during a virtual climate event.
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"
No country is immune to the climate crisis, but in every country it is the poorest people who are the most vulnerable even if they are the least causing the problem
", said Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, in a recorded statement posted on YouTube.
Entitled "Countdown", the initiative was organized by the TED conference platform, a network specializing in the dissemination of ideas.
About fifty personalities from around the world, including actresses Jane Fonda and Priyanka Chopra, were to intervene to discuss the risks that the planet runs in the event of prolonged inaction.
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British Guyanese parliamentarian David Lammy worked to establish a link between the climate emergency and the global protests against police violence and racial inequalities, initiated by the "Black Lives Matter" movement. after the death of African-American George Floyd, suffocated under the knee of a white policeman in May.
"Operation"
"
Black people breathe the most toxic air compared to the rest of the population and it is people of color who are most likely to suffer from the climate crisis,
" he said, explaining that this situation was due to the that more minorities work in tertiary occupations more exposed to pollution and live in dense areas.
“
The exploitation of natural resources has always been linked to the exploitation of people of color,
” he added, concluding that “
climate justice is intimately linked to racial justice
”.
The coronavirus pandemic cannot be "
an excuse
" to postpone the CO2 emissions reduction targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement, for her part argued Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
The European Union will therefore devote billions of euros to green projects, underlined the leader, who sees the energy transition as a source of new jobs.
Read also: Climate: the High Council warns on "imported emissions"
“
The shared goals of our generation are clear.
Together we must protect and restore nature, purify our air, revive our oceans, build a world without waste and find a solution to end (the crisis) of the climate
”, ordered Prince William, according to an excerpt from his speech broadcast in advance.
“
We must strive to do so during this decade.
If we do, by 2030 our lives will not deteriorate and we will not have to sacrifice everything we love.
On the contrary, the way we live would be healthier, cleaner, smarter and better for everyone
”, pleaded the prince.
"Stubborn optimists"
"Countdown" comes as political leaders try to politicize environmental issues, the organizers note, in reference to US President Donald Trump, who regularly makes climate-skeptical remarks.
Drought, floods, giant fires and other natural disasters linked to climate change are ignoring political views, warns Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate official.
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The event aims to focus on actions people can take to address global warming.
Also messages from ordinary people, especially on how they converted to selective sorting, gave up plastic bags or how they do not waste were they diffused between the interventions of celebrities and performances of artists.
The architect Carlos Moreno encouraged the mayors to redesign their city to facilitate travel on foot and by bicycle, while the city councilor of Freetown in Sierra Leone, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, detailed his plan to transform his municipality into a city " green ”by planting a million trees.
"
We are stubborn optimists
": insisted the American actors Mark Ruffalo and Don Cheadle, from the first minutes of the event.
"Countdown" was to last five hours.
