La crisis climática: Afrontando una crisis para salir de otra

The climate crisis is the defining crisis of our time and is happening even faster than we feared. What are we to do?

The global pandemic we are suffering has shown that it is extremely difficult to anticipate the magnitude of the risks facing us. For decades we have been saying that climate change is one of the biggest challenges humanity has to face in the coming years. And if we are increasingly sure of one thing, it is that the risks involved for our society are increasing.

Some of the essential measures that need to be taken are not beyond our reach and also serve to deal with both crises, health and climate, and they are subject to discussion throughout our society, even though they are not always adopted in a coherent way that exploits synergies. Important among these are: slowing the deterioration of the soil, the loss of biodiversity and pollution of the air, land and water; improving management of water and resources; mitigating climate change and adapting to it; using resources efficiently; undertaking decarbonisation, decoupling and detoxification; and preventing and coping with risks and disasters. All these measures call for more ambitious, effective policies in the following areas, among others: sustainable consumption and production, more efficient use and management of resources, integrated management of ecosystems and reduction of waste. Within this framework, multidisciplinary approaches are the key to proposing effective solutions, as well as taking on the challenges represented by their inevitable impacts. This collaboration must come about on the basis of the respect, varied abilities and viewpoints that a multidisciplinary approach can provide, the courage to take on the complexity of physical and socio-ecological systems and the need to generate knowledge together with the different stakeholders in society.