Global warming

Fil des billets

1 out of 2 : a specific roadmap to limit global warming (english version)

YOUR ACTIVITY / YOUR NAME AND FIRST NAME 

Aline Read, founder of « Exister demain » (Exist tomorrow) Stéphane Vieu, professor of Economics

WHAT POINTS DO YOU WANT TO IMPROVE ?

The Global Warming

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :

State of the Planet:

Global warming is exponential: over the past thirty years the number of tons of carbon emissions has been multiplied by two (1), while the natural mechanisms of absorption by oceans and forests no longer suffice to regulate them. This is jeopardizing the future of humanity.

The Paris Accord wished to limit global warming to 2 degrees C, but the measures taken by countries to achieve this are derisory and the results obtained are meager. At this rate, we will not make it. If we exceed or even reach 2 degrees C, the forests which currently still stock CO2 will in turn become emitters of carbon (at a threshold temperature of 32 diurnal degrees, the process of storage of CO2 by trees reverses itself (2).

Our current approach which consists of an attempt to empower individuals, companies, industry and agriculture is not going fast enough.

If we do not want to spend our time managing catastrophes linked to climate change (drought, floods, reactivation of viruses so far frozen in permafrost), that is, if we want our planet to remain livable, we need to take action fast. Knowing that sudden jolts to the economy due to climate change will be more and more frequent, knowing that said economy will not be able to withstand these much longer without collapsing, it would be judicious to smooth out the inevitable evolution through which we must go.

''1 Hervé Le Treut (GIEC) 1 Etude CIRAD 2 Professeur Jean Michel Claverie''

YOUR SOLUTION TO IMPROVE THIS PROBLEM  :

The solution:

It has to combine the following: - Efficiency - Speed and simplicity of implementation - Capacity to be well received and accepted by citizens - Universality.

This solution is based on the realization that the hectic, stressful, exhausting life forced upon us by the global economy and its surge in production is a real scourge. And just as the planet needs respite, so do its inhabitants who need time to “ breathe”. Indeed, fatigue is a recurrent complaint among hundreds of millions of individuals.

This realization has led us to propose a solution which not only meets the afore-mentioned requirements but moreover goes hand in hand with a substantial decrease in the ecological footprint.

It is a matter of stretching time, slowing down our production frenzy by deciding that every other day will be a day of rest for all of the inhabitants of the planet.

Every other day, nothing that pollutes (or accelerates global warming) will run or fly, nothing will be produced using polluting methods.

That is to say that to stem climate change and efficiently fight against all the “collapses” we are witnessing today (that of bio-diversity, the quality of air and water, etc.) which are telling signs of our helplessness, we decide to act on time itself.

In addition to this fundamental change in our relationship with time, within the framework of coordinated and cooperative protectionism at international level, activities concerning basic necessities are relocated, sustainable repairable products are produced and we get out of the hell of short series.These measures will also allow us to fight against CO2 emissions.

International authorities such as the UN can draw up an international declaration for a policy “of the living”, aimed at determining the human needs to be met and encouraging the reorganization of our lives so that rest between two working days is no longer only one night but one day, one night and one day. Administrative “months” will be made up of 60 days.

The operational rules of international commerce, currently subject to the dogma of liberalism which has proven to be harmful, will have to be amended to support the 1 out of 2 system. Thus, States will be authorized to levy dissuasive customs duties for countries not having opted for this system - just as they could do so for countries not meeting standards of production sufficiently protective of health and the environment.

We have the ability to change our habits, our relationship to time – it is simply a question of having the will to do so. The decrease in production, exchanges, and global activity will of course impact our way of life. Producing quality and producing it without polluting will lead us to reconsider the way we consume.

Monetary pluralism with the promotion of local currencies allowing us to stimulate local activity, to regain control of the financing of public debt so that States do not lose their sovereignty regarding economic policies, to stop subsidizing fossil energies, to fight determinedly against tax evasion, to oversee dividends, to reduce the gaps in salaries as defined by citizens, etc…

At international level, a "Tobin" “green” tax could be implemented so as to redistribute speculative financial operations making them less attractive as well as to sustain ecological transition.

The predictable decrease in revenue will largely be compensated by the decrease in the consumption of goods and the significant reduction in the cost of foodstuffs (decrease in costs of transport, elimination of costs linked to the remuneration of monopolies in the agricultural sector).

As for the financing of the 1 out of 2 system, we have a wide range of measures to choose from.

However, the vital cost items of active household budgets, that is housing and food, must be preserved. Practically speaking, those who have mortgages or property credit will see their repayment periods extended by the number of non-working days (if they so wish), with their monthly payments divided by two and an extension of the loan period equal to the number of reduced monthly payments.

We can however draft general rules regarding housing. In the private sector, the tenant could pay half his rent and the lessor could be entitled to a tax deduction equal to the amount not collected.

In the social sector, a new dedicated Housing Assistance Program could be created to make up for the imbalance in the household budget brought about by the obligation to work only every other day. In France housing expenses (excluding owners and those having access to property) varies significantly according to households. In the social sector it ranges from 40% of the budget of the poorest households, tenants in the private sector, to 17% of the richest households. For example, the CAF (the French family allowances fund) will cover half of the alimony that debtors will no longer be able to pay if they can only work every two days.

So as to boost employment efficiently, we can imagine the implementation of an eco-transition revenue (RTE) for individuals wishing to set up businesses having a strong ecological impact. This would be based on an entitlement to financial revenue as well as training, providing that said activity created is of ecological urgency.

This revenue could be paid by ecological transition cooperatives (CTE). Prospective employment opportunities will be tremendous as society will then choose carbon-free organic agriculture. Such agriculture will mobilize a new part of the active population, according to the models adopted and the techniques available.

We need to break speculative operations in the Real Estate sector by putting an end to the creation of metropolises, the objective being to bring homes and farming areas closer together so as to reduce energy costs linked to transport and of course commute time.

So obviously we will not stop eating every two days. But according to the UN organization that manages agriculture and food, we currently produce twice as much food as needed to feed the planet. – famine is exclusively due to speculation on agricultural commodities. Currently, a grain of wheat is bought and sold over 100 times before reaching our plates. Therefore, all we need to do is ban deleterious speculation so that food is no longer a problem. On the one hand, seed-producer /agrochemical lobbies in the agricultural sector have to be dismantled but so must all speculative action linked to agricultural commodities be permanently stopped, which will require the regulation of financial markets.

CONCLUSION

This effective and rapid solution will allow us to work at our own pace on all substantive action to achieve ecological transition.

Taking action without delay :

If climate change is exponential then our retaliation should be likewise. To be effective the “1 out of 2” system has to be adopted by a maximum number of countries. Each nation must put pressure on their governments to implement it as fast as possible.

It is up to you to make it known, and up to you to request it !

We can take action.

We have to take action now.