Asia Floods & Climate Treaty: A Connection?

It’s never too late.

Indeed, nearly 30,000 global contributors and 195 participating countries voted for a consensual text aimed at limiting global warming and maintaining its evolution between 1.5° and 2° until 2100. To be applicable, the text had to be ratified by 55 countries producing at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions in the world.

On September 3, 2016, Barack Obama and Xi Jinping presented their countries’ instruments of ratification to the Secretary General of the UN. The photo of the 3 protagonists goes around the world. Hope too. Other countries are stepping into the breach. And, on November 4, 2016, the conditions were met for the UN to proclaim the entry into force of the Treaty. A date to remember.

This ratification, in less than a year, is a considerable ideological victory. This is high-level awareness of the climate emergency. The positive movement is accelerating and, at the April 2017 summit in New York, the UN announced the commitment of 175 countries. Since then, the Climate Treaty has been enforceable against States, Communities, Companies, Associations and Citizens. Few authorities managed to submit their instruments of ratification by the 2020 deadline.

Ten years have passed.

The torrential rains and floods in Asia confirm the analyzes and make Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the consensus contemptible. In recent days, the images coming from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Vietnam, etc. offer a spectacle of desolation. Beyond the thousands of dead and missing, towns and villages were swallowed up by the surge of water and mud. The economy, particularly agriculture, is very affected. The recovery will take time and will be very expensive. This is so much money that could have been used to solve the needs of several generations.

During this time, the temperature rises in the oceans and accelerates the evaporation of water which condenses in the atmosphere. The masses of water hanging over our heads burst at the first opportunity. We see this during natural phenomena like cyclones or during torrential rains like in Dubai, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Sometimes political authorities are accused of seeding clouds to cause rain.

In Asia, observers blame deforestation, urbanization and industrialization. These activities are driven by the race for unlimited profit. We exalt the success of millionaires and billionaires. In the United States, we find it normal to support the arms industry with billions injected into armed conflicts, but they are withdrawing from the Climate Treaty. The most vulnerable, particularly small island states, are abandoned. The rise in sea levels is scientifically documented.

Reunion ratification

At the seminar on the centenary of Paul Vergès on May 17, the decision was taken to define and publish the instruments of ratification of the Climate Treaty. This task was entrusted to Jules Dieudonné, engineer and sustainable development expert. The results of the work will be submitted next year. More than ever, the subject is on the table.

Affairs God-Tchi-Tchi-Tchi-Tchi-Kan