Ecology

A machi (Mapuche spiritual authority) said about the illnesses that people are going through today: "If you want to heal yourself, you must learn to let your spirit reach your body because it tends to walk faster than the spirit walks".

The theme for World Water Day this year is “accelerating change.” Be the Change you want to see in the world” - Rapid, transformative change is needed and everyone can play their part. Every action – no matter how small – will make a difference.”

COP27, the 27th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is finally over. In late-night negotiations that ended in the early hours of Sunday, November 20, parties successfully reached a deal to establish a long-awaited and much-discussed mechanism for loss and damage finance. The agreement, which came after years of concerted effort on the part of civil society and developing countries, was “a real pinch-me moment,”according to Teresa Anderson of ActionAid. But this high-profile outcome was but one of the many decisions taken at COP27.

The COP27 Conference took significant steps to help countries currently fighting climate change’s impacts. The most prominent outcome of COP27 was the loss and damage fund that countries agreed to create. Without getting into all the technicalities, this fund is supposed to help prevent climate disasters, while supporting countries struggling with climate disasters. Some preventative measures include providing countries with early warning systems and emergency preparedness kits. Moreover, COP27 focused on two main themes: the time to act is now, and the biggest polluters must pay for their emissions.

Dedicated delegates met for the final outcome of COP27 in the early morning of 20 November, the last day of COP27, and officially closing after two weeks of negotiations with the adoption of the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan that establishes the funding arrangement for vulnerable countries for loss and damage. This process was shepherded through the dedication and integrity of COP27 President Sameh Shoukry, and final statements by countries and non-government organizations were heard and held sacred, especially that of human rights.

These past few weeks, the necessity for urgent action in responding to the climate crisis has become even more compelling. As the United Nations Environment Programme released their Emissions Gap Report for 2022 two weeks ago, one of the conclusions stated, “Without additional action, current policies lead to global warming of 2.8°C over this century.”

The theme of COP 27, the latest UN climate conference taking place in Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, has been dubbed ‘implementation.’ Judging by the many speeches from heads of states, prominent climate activists, public actions and the negotiations behind the scenes it is clear that urgent action is needed today to affect a veritable climate catastrophe in the not-too-distant future.

The general feeling was that the option for the poor and the option for the earth were inseparable, as environmental degradation particularly affected the poorest more than others.