The assessment reports published in time for the COP28 starting 1 December were all but reassuring. A week before the 70,000 participants converged on Dubai UN Secretary-General António Guterres was briefing reporters in New York after seeing for himself over the weekend the “profoundly shocking” speed at which ice is melting in Antarctica – three times faster than the rate in the early 1990s. New figures reveal that sea ice at the South Pole is now 1.5 million square kilometres below average for this time of year; that’s equal to the surface area of Portugal, Spain, France and Germany combined.

At the same time, it was also becoming clear that stopping the one percent of humanity which is controlling a disproportionate part of all global resources to emit up to 100 tonnes CO₂ per head and year needs to be on the agenda. Together with leaving most of the oil, gas and coal in the soil would bring us onto a trajectory to 1.5°C instead of the current one towards 3°C. Diversifying massively out of fossils would avoid lots of stranded assets. The costly fossil frenzy generates less net energy for all the energy, materials and money needed. From an economic point of view renewables, soil conservation, lifting people out of poverty and investing into education and social services bears a lot more interest. That is what the economists say who study possible transitions closely. It would be the rational thing to do.

The prevailing response to the disasters which have been created by the technologies developed largely during and after WWII with military and people- and nature-control objectives though is more of these material and energy hungry technologies. It is this illusion of permanent exponential growth that produces the hockey stick increase of greenhouse gases, plastic pollution, artificial fertilizers, pesticides and more. We can see how it makes people sick, that it produces more hungry people than ever before, that the projections are more and more and more.

We are often invited to ‘think out of the box’. Let’s do that and remind ourselves that exponential growth ‘for ever’ is impossible; that the wealthy do not need more, except to take on more social responsibilities and bond with more people. They would be healthier and happier for it, probably consuming and wasting less. Those with insufficient food, housing, energy and social services are the ones needing more. Many of these people, as we can see from field work, have very down-to-earth desires and ambitions: to meet these basic needs. The women and men dream of sending their kids to school, be able to go about their business as small-scale fishers, farmers, artisans, be able to be heard, be respected and to chose how they want to live.

Throughout November we created and participated in several opportunities to put forth these simple truths and align our demands for more blue justice for small-scale fishers with others for greater effect. We believe that investing in people and their capacities for collective action to defend their rights is the best way to come to grips with the overlapping crises we experience now on a daily basis. This is the heart of our mission.

Support our work with a donation to strengthen locally adapted action and Blue Justice.
Mundus maris, Belfius Bank, Rue de Linthout 224, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
IBAN: BE54 0688 9178 6297     BIC: GKCCBEBB

Our website in five languages www.mundusmaris.org offers you the stories below and more showing: Together we achieve more.

Cornelia E. Nauen and the entire Mundus maris team

Activities around the world