COP28 - Overpopulation and excessive consumption
I am Lili Lajtár from Hungary, a small country in Europe, from a country about which different thoughts run through everyone's head, different feelings run through their body, especially if they use only the media to get information. For the first time, as a 19-year-old biology student, I wrote a letter to a climate conference, which was COP26 at the time, and in which I tried to shed light on the planet's problems from other points of view, which has been completely timely since then, so I recommend it to your attention ( http://www.lajtarlili.hu/climate-change-2021 ). Even now, at the age of 21, I strive to help the decision-makers gathered at this conference.
Unfortunately, since COP26, the quality of life of masses of people has only continued to deteriorate. For them, for me, the future is becoming more and more uncertain every day, and the question of which nation you belong to, which country you live in makes everyday life even more difficult. After all, it not only determines his thinking and his actions, but together with the prejudices about his country, creates a picture of him that is probably exaggerated in some way. The time has long come to remove these filters from our consciousness and finally see with "naked eyes". Then let's get into it!
Well, I don't have the authority to represent anyone or anything, so I'm just representing myself, and it's probably the best if you just represent yourself and he represents himself. It's just me, you, and him. Perhaps the time has come for an invisible, impersonal, but more effective collaboration in the world, everyone should do as much as they have access to on a daily basis. For example if you could litter, then don't do it! If you were to buy something you don't really need, then don't buy it! Don't add anything to global consumption, and I could go on and on. Therefore, I believe that we should not look for the solution in another person, or expect it from another person, but we ourselves should be the ones, let us be the change.
It is important to point out that you would not release another Greta Thunberg into the world by me, who will sew the environmental pollution, the climate catastrophe, and the wars that are meaningless to the individual onto the necks of the already usual or a new group. Either she is looking for those responsible for the pervasive human brutality and aggression, or perhaps she is speaking out against the ever-increasing levels of hatred, because apart from the fact that these are bad things, they are also very suitable for diverting attention from other problems. But this person - i.e. me - does all this because she knows that everything affects everything, now let me talk about myself theatrically in the third person.
Well, I didn't fill my letter with numbers for COP26, I didn't write anything for COP27, and for the current COP28, I should come up with some numbers now, if already I didn't regret the time to count. A constantly changing composition - since we are constantly born and dying - 57 million people are most responsible for everything, all good and bad and all conceivable meanings of it, they are the brain trusts, and all the others are the implementers. In this way, to a greater extent or not, but with the exception of a few people living scattered, we are all responsible and at the same time all losers. Because everyone on this planet is a loser, even if we win sometimes, eventually everything will be taken away, our existence will be lost, along with our time, our knowledge, our experience. Now I am talking about everyone, including the 57 million people, but I am also talking about the individual, because we are all individuals, one person, wedged between our birth and our death.
With few exceptions, this awaits everyone, because the role of individuals - those who do not have political power and material/immaterial assets capable of influencing certain masses - is the consumption, we were chosen for this. Not for that, for example, like the innovators, whose role is progress, who throughout their lives they only develop and then pass on an innovation of greater or lesser importance and, if everyone uses it, the future can quickly turn in new directions. But how many are there? It is likely that the views, knowledge and experience of no more than 7 million people a year illuminate the future.
If we calculate that today the population of the planet is 8 billion people, of which 1 billion are vulnerable children, 1 billion are helpless elderly people, and 1 billion are ill in one way or another.
Then, nearly 2 billion live in deep poverty or misery - in my reading, they are the "sleeping consumers", whose access to material goods would have a terminating effect on their economic situation on the one hand, which is good, but on the other hand, it would also generate an unpredictable wave of consumption, thus significantly raising the burden on the environment, so this is also a very thought-provoking topic -.
So there are only 3 billion people left, of which the richest 3,600,000 people own half of the world's wealth. Of these 3 billion, only 2.95 billion own 1.1 percent of the wealth. So, 98 percent of the world's wealth can be owned by 50 million people, i.e. the wealth of 50 million people represents the property, which is served by the intellectual and brain capacity of 7 million people to use the remaining almost 8 billion people as consumers through the intertwining of governments and economic characters. But why can this be so? Because it has always been like this, but in recent decades we have reached and now we have exceeded the critical mass, too much consumption by too many people is no longer sustainable without radical responses from the planet. The good news is that history has all the information, and even the past contains the direction of the future, as well as the fact that money drives everything, money gives power and permeates every aspect of life.
There are constant and recurring motifs in history, such as the fact that social differences, wars with religious means and ends, exploitation, incitement of hatred are actually all tools of the fight for the resources of the planet. And the methods used are inherent to human existence and human thinking, which we mostly do by surrendering to political interests by organizing ourselves into groups, communities, and societies. And here we have the most perfect political system available, the democracy. In relation to it, we must be aware of that even democracy is oppressive for the individual, so even a given democratic state is always a certain level of legitimized exploitation created for the benefit of the powerful. The daily news of politics consumed by the masses is - I belong to this mass too - their theater. The history of humanity is also about this, it is all in the books, as it continues to be written according to the above regularity. Since it cannot be changed, and we also know that it is necessary to control the masses, so we have to work from what is available.
There is definitely something available that we could change in principle, this something is an effect, namely the environmental pollution, which is a by-product of human existence, and in which every living being on this planet is undoubtedly drowning. And, if I take the time to look for connections and share the resulting information with you, I would like to believe that these climate conferences, like the current COP28, are not some play and I would like to believe that the individual is also listened to, from time to time. Not only the opinions and recommendations of members of communities, organizations and associations, which who knows where came from.
As a dedicated conservationist, I've been blogging for almost 10 years, the number of content I've created (text, image, video, interviews, publications, documenting observations) is over 10,000, moreover, I'm not a member of any organization, my relatives are not influential, they're not well-known, there's no institute, academia behind me, for this reason I am not a mouthpiece, moreover, these statements of mine can be easily verified. When I create content, I only work with the biggest lobby group, and that is planet Earth itself. I find it absolutely amazing that this conference should be held because of the effects of consumer society on the planet, as it has been every year since the beginning. But I'm Hungarian and I live in Hungary and I think many people don't know what it's like to live in this country, so I'm now describing how the living conditions of the living world have changed and where they're headed here in Hungary, regardless of the fact that as a country we're not even 1% scientifically responsible for environmental pollution and global warming affecting the planet.
We, Hungarians can no longer only hear it from the news, but we can already feel it on our own skin that our country will not be left out of the negative effects of global warming, despite the fact that many of us thought that here, in the Carpathian Basin, hiding and enjoying its protection, that we will stay out of the extremes. It looks like we were wrong, so let's take a look at what's happening, why, and if there's anything we can do.
As is well known, the climate of the entire area of Hungary is continental, however, the acceleration of the effects of climate change has been experienced in the last 3-4 years, which makes drought periods more frequent, but at the same time, large amounts of rain that fall infrequently and cause flash floods have also appeared. There is a huge area in our country, one-tenth of the country's territory, which is an area particularly affected by the acceleration of the effects of climate change, this is the sand ridge between Danube and Tisza, which is covered by three counties, but also extends into neighboring Serbia.
The harmful effects can already be seen in the reduction of biodiversity, the significant reduction of large insect species is particularly striking, therefore the development of an action strategy should be urged by all interested parties. The Basic Law of Hungary accepts sustainability as a value of particular importance. The Basic Law also stipulates (Article O) that Hungary protects and maintains a healthy environment and that natural resources, agricultural land and drinking water resources, as well as biodiversity and cultural values constitute the common heritage of the nation. Two principles should be kept in mind above all else, one is the "Precaution and Prevention Principle", which describes that existing scientific uncertainties regarding the process, causes and effects of climate change should not be a basis for postponing the necessary prevention and adaptation measures. The other principle is the "Principle of Avoiding Transloads", which describes that climate protection interventions cannot lead to new sustainability problems, overloads for other environmental elements or other geographical areas. However, it is definitely worth keeping in mind that if Hungary were to become a completely "green" country and play an insignificant role in curbing the global destructive environmental effects, it would still only be possible to achieve this with extensive international cooperation. So, the reluctance of the "big nations" to act is present as a restraining force in the Hungarian people and in the citizens of every small nation that is currently working hard to achieve complete "greening".
But, despite all this, we, Hungarians are also dealing with a problem that goes beyond our country's borders, which is why we have formulated mitigation and adaptive goals as a counterbalance to climate change, i.e. the reduction of greenhouse gases and, in accordance with our capabilities, getting to know the adaptation possibilities and limitations of an environmental loads with unknown impact on society. It is also true that these define the successful goals on an excessively large scale for this region, which is only one-tenth of the country.
As I stated in my short film years ago ( https://youtu.be/WizIjuw0cW8?si=Puu0NBZ1FKmjeGAm ), the greatest results in nature conservation and environmental protection can be achieved with the least human intervention. But deep down, I also feel that something should be done, since I myself live in this geographical area that is losing at all levels, which according to the media is turning from a semi-desert into a desert. But the reality is closer to that the distribution of precipitation shows uneven values, which is why there are sometimes longer, even months-long rain-free periods, as I mentioned earlier. These longer periods must be bridged by nature and agriculture. Looking at the present, now something is lost every day, a cooler or rainier day, some species that are otherwise unable to change location are lost, and those that can run, climb or fly, they try to appear in a floodplain, mountain range, in a wetland that still remains, which seems even more livable. They become false data with the fact that they appear as a new species here and there, so it seems like there is still hope and the biodiversity has not decreased.
Certain parts of the sand ridge between Danube and Tisza will most likely be lost by nature and we, humans will also lose it as an area that can be used for agricultural purposes. But where there is still hope, the living world and we can only rely in the mosaic arrangement, where the flora and fauna could be kept up like an oasis in a certain grid. I would consider it a good idea if farmers could continue to farm among the oases - as this still characterizes the countryside - and they would receive water from reservoirs and canals, which would be served by excess water from rainfall and rivers or purified wastewater. What is also certain is that a significant drop in the groundwater level is likely, because the fresh water in the ground flows through the canals without being utilized, since Hungary is no longer a country of water, but only of flowing water. For this reason, large-scale construction works aimed at retaining water have begun, and sometimes a project is handed over, so the work is progressing, since for now the possible solutions are built structures such as dams, canals, sluices or building in biological circulation such as forests or steppes.
If we ask the question, what kind of solutions could we offer in addition to the existing ones, then we should most likely scrutinize science and reaching the masses. The amount of knowledge available through science divided the closely related scientific fields into sub-disciplines, then this seemed necessary and useful for the future. In recent decades, however, we have been forced to face the universal law that everything is connected to everything else, so thinking only in parts (sub-sciences) made/makes us more and more limited when it comes to solving a wide-ranging problem.
Climate change is also such a problem, a consequence where it is not possible to dig deep enough to see the root of the problem, because there are also widespread and indirect consequences in the depths, the causes of which can only be recognized with the passage of time - provided that we are also sufficiently prepared - we have less and less time at our disposal. If we examine the problem of climate change from countless points of view, we will realize that the time has come for a paradigm shift in the field of science, and we will be forced to link the sub-sciences together again. It is an excellent solution for this if we involve artificial intelligence (AI) to examine and research a long-term path for the future of humanity and nature in a complex way.
However, it is very important to pay attention to the fact that AI should only have access to real data, otherwise it will not help, but rather cause errors and damage to all of us. If we stop now for a few moments and think, then on the one hand, it is interesting to experience how a level of knowledge has been omitted, how the little polyhistorism that existed has also disappeared, and now by placing knowledge outside the body, we will practically turn the AI into an all-knowing and complex thinking entity. On the other hand, the connection potential that the Internet can provide globally and is able to connect the smallest unit, the individual with the individual, or the individual with all of us, has been sacrificed on the altar of profit. And we created a human-like spirit, AI, rather than connecting billions of people in virtual space so that we can think freely, come together as one big collective consciousness and find solutions to our most pressing problems, since there is at least one usable solution for every problem.
As I wrote in the title, I see overpopulation and the accompanying consumption as the biggest problem of global warming, but I also see excessive and unjustified everyday consumption as a problem, and perhaps the greatest danger for the planet actually lies in it.
One way or another, humanity is caught between its destiny and the timeliness of its development, so all we can do is act according to our role every single day and eagerly await the sequel…