Collapse. The word was dropped. And, this time, it was not notorious collapsologists such as Pablo Servigne or Yves Cochet who pronounced it, while they have been chanting it for years as one brandishes a red rag. No, it was none other than the Secretary-General of the United Nations who said this a few days ago about the climate.
Antonio Guterres is accustomed to shock formulas. So, yes, it will not have escaped anyone that this summer was marked by extreme weather events: late heat wave, drought, torrential rains, devastating fires with often dramatic consequences around the world. For the first time, an orange alert was triggered in France in September. And the European Copernicus Institute has just reminded us, less than three months before COP28 in Dubai: the summer of 2023 was the hottest recorded in the history of humanity.
But is this type of fear-based discourse really effective? For more than twenty years, scientists have been sounding the alarm and many NGOs have cried wolf, in vain.
Climate change is no longer just someone else's problem
Today, if the general public is increasingly aware of the subject, it is because these phenomena affect it more closely. Because the disasters caused by climate change are no longer just the problem of others, those who live far away, in poverty. It's here and now: in Spain, Greece or even in the south of the France. And to inspire citizens to act, there is nothing like creating hope more than fear, positive emotions rather than negative emotions, inspiring examples and models to follow rather than dramas.
It is the bias of Le Figaro tomorrow, to highlight these models, these entrepreneurs of hope, these initiatives sometimes a little crazy and that work, even with few means. To make everyone want to take action. Because with Confucius we think that "the one who moves the mountain is the one who begins to remove the small stones".
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