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“Madness of humanity to destroy nature”

22 mai 2019, 10:51

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“Madness of humanity to destroy nature”

Dear Nad,

I have read with full interest all your articles this week in the wake of the Climate Change Summit, in particular your editorial of this Sunday on the ‘climate crisis’.

As you rightly point out the short term vision of our decision-makers prevents them from giving priority to the longer term interests of the people. I would even say that that it is the collective unconsciousness or ‘madness’ of humanity which drives them to choose the ‘immediate benefits’ of destroying nature for the sake of growth and so-called development, and to totally ignore the longer term destructive effects of such growth.

In Mauritius, I believe that it is high time that we come up with a new model of development which redefines our relationship with our scarce natural resources (earth, water, biodiversity, beaches, etc). We cannot continue to destroy our land and put up buildings (IRS, RES) to get so called foreign income. Why can’t we use such land to produce our own food using modern technology but which is ecologically friendly ? We may have less foreign income and may have to give up some of our luxuries (though we can also export our agricultural products and gain some foreign currency) but we will certainly preserve the natural resources of our country for our future generations. The same goes for our beaches. Why do we have to construct more hotels when we need to preserve the few remaining public beaches for our future generations? Then the opaque methods of distributing state land to cronies have never been challenged by any government. It is time that this stops and a more transparent system be set up which gives the highest consideration to the preservation of nature. It is time that the people claim their right to decide on the use of scarce resources. We cannot allow the Ministry of Environment or the EDB to decide which projects to receive their EIA licence without consultation with the people or to decide which projects should be exempted from EIA Licence. That is the kind of agenda on which the people should choose their next government.

Thank you for bringing such issues as climate change on the table which should be of more concern to us than ever.
 

Geneva un summit: towards sustainable and inclusive Societies

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	<figure class="image" style="display:inline-block"><img alt="" height="330" src="/sites/lexpress/files/images/article/cyclone_idai_in_mozambique.jpg" width="620" />
		<figcaption>People in Beira, in Mozambique, in March following Cyclone Idai.</figcaption>
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<p>I. The sixth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction took place from 13 to 17 May 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. It was co-chaired by Mr. Manuel Sager, State Secretary, Government of Switzerland, and Ms. Mami Mizutori, the United Nations Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral for Disaster Risk Reduction. Participants attended from 182 countries. The Global Platform built on the Regional and Sub-Regional Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction hosted by the Governments of Armenia, Colombia, Italy, Mongolia, and Tunisia in 2018.</p>

<p>II. The Global Platform&rsquo;s focus on &laquo;Resilience Dividend: Toward Sustainable and Inclusive Societies&raquo; will provide a critical contribution to the 2019 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the Climate Action Summit. The Global Platform called for accelerated action in achieving the seven targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and highlighted the importance of disaster risk reduction to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the contribution of the Sendai Framework towards the Paris Agreement, the Agenda for Humanity, the New Urban Agenda and the SAMOA Pathway.</p>

<p>III. The Global Platform was preceded by the Second Multi Hazard Early Warning Conference, the fourth session of the World Reconstruction Conference, the Stakeholder Forum and the Science-Policy Forum.</p>

<p>IV. Progress towards gender parity and accessibility was evident throughout the platform, although further work is needed. Half of the panelists were women and forty percent of participants were women; amplifying the voice of women leaders. The 2019 Global Platform was also the most accessible to-date with more than 120 persons with disabilities in attendance.</p>

<p>V. The 2019 Global Platform took stock of the implementation of the Sendai Framework, based on the data submitted by the Member States to the Sendai Framework Monitor, analysis from the United Nations 2019 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR 2019), and other recent reports such as the Global Warming of 1.5&deg;C report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. GAR 2019 was launched on the first day of the Global Platform. (&hellip;)</p>

<p>VI. International cooperation and multilateral action remain essential to manage the global and systemic nature of disaster risk and to provide the necessary support to developing countries. At the same time, inclusive local action is the way to success in managing disaster risk and its cascading effects.</p>

<p>VII. Participants noted the continued critical role of the Global Platform to review progress on the implementation of the Sendai Framework and identify policy recommendations for action, and the need for a midterm review of the Sendai Framework. The work of the United Nations system at all levels is pivotal to ensure impact at country level through the reformed United Nations Development System, Country Teams, and Resident Coordinators.</p>

<p>VIII. There was a strong understanding that the deliberations of the Global Platform were a critical contribution that ought to be taken into account in the formulation of the political outcomes and the deliberations by States, including key intergovernmental reviews in 2019.</p>

<p>XIX. The overarching message of the Global Platform was that resilience pays off. A strong call was made to leaders at all levels to ensure resilience dividends for all. Risk-informed investments are essential for sustainable development and inclusive societies.</p>

<p>XX. Participants called for the Climate Action Summit 2019 and the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to affirm the catalytic role of disaster risk reduction in scaling up action on climate adaptation and resilience. Participants also reaffirmed that the Sendai Framework is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and called for greater political commitment to fully integrate disaster risk reduction in the implementation of the SDGs.</p>

<p>(From Geneva)</p>