THEhe French government has just removed the last remaining doubts about the real usefulness of the world congress of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which was held in Marseille from September 3 to 11.
Four days after its closing, the ink for the speeches was not dry and the emphasis of the declarations had not quite fallen as the Ministry of Ecological Transition announced that it would put several draft decrees for consultation to authorize the trapping of some 115 000 birds (skylarks, crested lapwings, golden plovers, etc.) through so-called “traditional” hunting methods. However, these are based on techniques that do not comply with European law, and were deemed illegal on August 6 by the Council of State.
So here we are, propelled to new heights of insincerity and cynicism. After the congress, IUCN members – including states, government agencies and NGOs – were struggling to find strong enough words to describe the gravity of the situation. “Humanity has reached a tipping point, can we read in the final declaration, endorsed by the members of the organization. Human activities unsustainable for the planet continue to worsen the situation, threatening not only our own survival, but also the very possibility of life on Earth. “ If even the possibility of life on Earth is at stake, then one can hardly imagine a more critical subject.
Novlanguage politician
The time has come, summed up Bruno Oberle, the Director General of IUCN, “ fundamental change ”. Certainly, responds in substance to France, host country of the congress, but we still wish to be able to continue breaking the law to allow a fraction of a percent of our fellow citizens to indulge in the pleasure of killing tens of thousands of birds in decline. Among the species targeted by the draft decrees, some have seen their populations contract by half in Europe over the past thirty to forty years.
The contrast between the clash of words used to describe the problem and the frenzied absence of even the smallest beginnings of a political response to the problem embodies much more than what the political newspeak generally calls a “pragmatic step.” This contrast rather illustrates the fact that the environmental issue is now at the heart of a breach of the democratic pact. In a few years, the words of our leaders on the preservation of the environment have lost all credit. This damages the bond of trust between elected officials and citizens, and feeds abstentionism, conspiracy, mistrust – all of which the last electoral deadlines and the crisis linked to Covid-19 have revealed the prevalence and extent.
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