12/30/2021
The consumer society or the detour of Man from nature- By Guillaume Dubroca
"The prosperity of the interconnected society of appearances, the almost unconscious consumerist compulsiveness of individuals and the intensification of hyper-globalization, which is the source of waste and CO2 emissions, shows us that we are living in an existential contradiction. (...) Consumption is at the heart of the new conflictualities that govern society because the current state of energy and raw material consumption modes have irreversible consequences on the environment. (...) With the covid-19 pandemic, people have changed themselves. They have changed their way of living and consuming. (...) We can see that consumers are becoming more aware of their behaviors and practices, which they did not consider to be sufficiently in line with the preservation of the environment and their values. But this awareness is still insufficient to meet the expectations of the cop21. (...) In this way, millions of individual and public decisions will have to be taken, they will be real Gordian knots to be cut (...)".
12/17/2021
The challenges of deforestation in the world's second largest forest in the Congo Basin- By Clara Malonga
"The tropical forests within the Congo Basin play a key role in the fight against climate change. The Congo Basin forest massif extends over six Central African states. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has about 60% of the tropical forest within its territory. For decades, Central African states have been struggling to combat deforestation. Internationalization strategies have allowed foreign forestry companies to diversify the origin of the wood they import from the region. Foreign logging companies benefiting from this natural wealth were able to exploit Central Africa's timber with few restrictions. However, climate change, which has been predicted for decades by scientists, hinders their logging operations. Moreover, although the African continent is not a major polluter, it is one of the continents that will probably be the most impacted and exposed to climate change. The huge carbon sinks within the swampy areas, better known as peatlands, located in northwestern DRC and eastern Republic of Congo absorb tons of carbon dioxide each year. Political and economic measures to combat deforestation vary by state and demography. Every year, the forest cover decreases despite the means established to fight deforestation (...)".
12/09/2021
COP26 : a last chance wasted ?- By Jules Rioche
"(...) COP26 was supposed to be another historic step towards a determined fight against global warming and an increase in environmental protection and of the populations at risk. In the IPCC press release on the Working Group I report, (...) the IPCC demonstrates not only that global warming is accelerating, but that human influence is clearly driving these changes and acceleration. Indeed, the report states the importance and urgency of taking "immediate, rapid and massive" action. (...)
In addition, future global climate change will not only be a question of temperature. Climate change will affect all regions, and consequently, all types of environment with more intense floods or droughts, more accentuated coastal erosion, (...) but also in urban areas which record higher levels of heat because human activity is more developed there than in rural areas.
This is the first time that an IPCC report concludes that this acceleration of global warming and its main causes are due to human activity."