Georgia Foddis, Youth Press Agency, Italy
What a sad coincidence that I, as a young woman from Sardinia, am here in Warsaw at COP 19. This year’s climate change negotations are a solemn event, however this has seemingly made it seem all the more important to take action against climate change as soon as possible, to raise awareness on the issue and to push the negotiators towards an agreement which can successfully tackle global warming.
This week my land has been hit by a violent cyclone and related flooding, which have already caused 16 deaths, left thousands homeless and wreaked widespread destruction. I am pleasantly surprised by the media attention the event has received, with the likes of BBC and CNN reporting on the Sardinian flood. I watched this coverage while having lunch, but was unable to finish my meal.
On the other hand, I am really disappointed: I feel like the climate change argument is on this occasion being improperly used in attempts to hide national and local politicians’ responsibilities. Phrases such as ‘apocalyptic storm’ suggest that there was nothing to do to prevent it. And this is not true!
The tragedy could have been avoided – we were not helpless. Instead, we have the moral obligation to focus on the lack of prevention instruments and on the indifference of our politicians with regards to the topic of soil management and protection. The national political agenda does not consider it as a priority, even though around 6 million people in Italy are exposed to the risk of floods. 80 per cent of Sardinian towns and villages are located in high-risk areas for flooding, as a consequence, these kind of deadly events regularly occur, but still nothing has been done to change the situation. What is even worse, is that the local funds aimed at protecting the soil and reducing hydrogeological risk were totally revoked last summer.
To conclude, speaking about climate change to describe these events may be a double edged sword. At a local level, climate change is still deemed to be a very far-off issue that is hard to deal with and is unfortunately often used as an argument to justify politicians’ deficiences and and lack of action.
So, let us get critical, let us fall in love with our own land, let us start acting in defence of it with the instruments we already have. Without doing so, our efforts on a higher level, such as those at COP 19, will not be enough. – Outreach magazine
