During the discussions towards the end of the recent Climate Action Network side event, the European Union delegate stood up and delivered a speech, offering insight into the rather alarming and unambitious ‘commitments’ of the EU. During the speech, he mentioned the following:
“It’s not about the art of necessity but about the art of the possible”
At what stage are the negotiators going to pull their heads out of the sand and take a close look at the facts and consequences of climate change and the adequate policies to address them? I would say what is necessary MUST be possible. We have no other option. The laws of nature don’t care about what the EU thinks is possible. The challenge can be seen as an attempt to jump across the Grand Canyon but the EU is telling us it’s only possible to jump half way.
If you don’t have the ambition and the will, if you don’t believe you are capable of creating policies to achieve fundamentally important targets necessary to safeguard the future of humankind, then you are holding us all back, ruining our only opportunity to prevent this possible catastrophe.
This is the question the EU, US and other Annex 1 countries need to answer:
“In order to stop runaway climate change the art of the possible will need to meet the art of necessary very soon. When do you expect this happy meeting to occur exactly?”
Fortunately a Climate Action Network (CAN) speaker had the last word – “what is necessary NEEDS to be possible”. Yes we CAN!
P.S.
After the event had finished, I overheard the EU delegate say to his colleague “this is the real carbon footprint”, referring to two children running past. So he’s not willing to take the step forward necessary to safeguard these two children’s future, but is willing to refer to them not as human beings but as “carbon footprints” in a way which suggested there existence is simply an environmental compromise. I normally try to refrain from ad hominem attacks, so please excuse me, but what an absolute idiot. We really don’t need these idiots standing in the way of our future.