Despite how serious the current climate situation is, it is interesting that the latest IPCC report – which confirms the irreversibility of global warming and the complete responsibility of the human being – coincides with an election year in Chile, including the presidential ones. In some way, and keeping the proportions with the crisis that the planet is experiencing, it endorses that 2021 is eager for new cycles and paradigms.
If before environmental issues were another chapter in the bulky political programs, sometimes hidden among the pages of other proposals, today they are a fundamental axis for every citizen who seeks to represent others. Water scarcity, the consequences of fossil fuel, the lack of alternative production models and the lack of waste management, are some of the urgencies that require new sustainable models to live.
Without expressing preference, a candidacy that positions its guidelines in climate coordinates is one that knows how to understand what happens in its environment. Or put another way, a future representative who takes charge of the ecological disaster, is a leader who must be paid attention to. He knows that the decision is not only his or a few’, but all those who are there now and those who are coming. The current digital speed and access to information, as well as the current collective paradigm to solve problems, confirm that not thinking “green” is as serious as continuing to generate garbage in the same way and doing nothing about it.
Future presidential proposals must address the consequences of global warming and guide the population towards new sustainable paradigms. This does not happen overnight, so it is almost an obligation that these projects are accompanied by a specialized validation in the field and are leveraged by research, development and innovation. Thus, we will not only have ecological benefits but also social, cultural and economic benefits.
To the challenges that leaders will have in climate decisions, Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of Climate Change of the UN, referred recently. “World leaders will face an important agenda in Glasgow, but billions expect them to make the bold and courageous decisions needed to finally implement the Paris Agreement, significantly boost climate ambition and ultimately take humanity off its current path of destruction. This support is welcome and crucial to building capacity and ensuring success at COP26.”
It is irrefutable that citizens have a great responsibility in all this, because our actions are added to a chain of valorization by the ecosystem. However, I am convinced that those who wish to represent us must be the first to make their environmental parameters transparent, as it is an inescapable item within the new models of leadership, such as the upcoming elections and governments. Are they willing to take up the challenge? Because it’s time for more action and to leave the theory behind.
The content expressed in this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.
