‘There is no vaccine for climate crisis, we must change’

* Photo: Greenpeace

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Releasing a statement on the last day of 2020 (December 31), Greenpeace has said, "Climate crisis has cost the world 145 billion dollars in 2020. There is no vaccine for the climate crisis, we must change."

Noting that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been accompanied by the climate crisis over the past year, Greenpeace has reminded both the world and Turkey about the disasters that we experienced due to the climate crisis in 2021. The organization has also explained the reasons why the climate crisis must be the first item on the agenda next year.

According to Greenpeace's statement, some of the extreme weather events faced by Turkey in 2020 were as follows:

'The first sandstorm in Anatolia's history'

"Several parts of Turkey witnessed extreme temperatures. Towards the end of the year, almost every monthly average temperature hit record-high levels. Floods claimed the lives of people in different parts of the country.

"For the first time in our lives did we experience a sandstorm on the Anatolian lands. We watched more than one waterspout in Büyükçekmece and Karaburun on the same day. We saw that our metropolitan cities are desperate in the face of flood disasters.

"Research shows that the global cost of climate crisis was nearly 145 billion dollars in 2020. Nearly 3,500 people lost their lives. Amid the pandemic, at least 17 million people have to leave their homes or migrate to other places as a result of the disasters triggered by the climate crisis.

"As for Turkey, we cannot draw a clear picture as to how high that cost was for the country. Because there is no explicit data regarding the loss caused by extreme climate incidents in Turkey."

'We must stop using fossil fuels'

Gökhan Ersoy, the Climate and Energy Project Director of Greenpeace Mediterranean, has also stressed that knowing the climate crisis' cost for Turkey is an important step to struggle against it and said:

"Unfortunately, we have seen it, in a bitter experience in our everyday lives, that the climate crisis is not a problem of years from now or a problem peculiar to the Poles. If only an action had been taken and the necessary measures be introduced without being too late.

"But we still have a chance to struggle against this crisis. We can say stop to this state of affairs before sandstorms, waterspouts, casualties in floods, drought and shortage of water become a normal part of our lives.

'We can build a green world'

"It is essentially the task of governments. Fossil fuels that consume our water resources, pollute our air and change our climate must be abandoned immediately. They must realize our renewable energy resources...

"The insistence on fossil fuels harms us all not only by causing disasters and changing our climate, but also harms us economically as a result of these disasters. We must not forget about tomorrow while trying to save the day with policies and tools of adaptation. We must make a transition to clean energy without losing time today so that we can save our tomorrow.

"In struggling against the pandemic, we were hopeful for the vaccines to be developed; there is, unfortunately, no vaccine for the climate crisis. There is no treatment, either. We can build a more livable and greener world only by taking the necessary steps before the crisis takes hold of our lives." (TP/SD)