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Hamangaí Marcos Melo Pataxó is a 22-year-old indigenous girl; she is the descendant of two Brazilian indigenous peoples who are seriously affected by climate change. As she said: 'Access to drinking water is very difficult and my mother sometimes scraped the water box to quench my thirst. Rain or going into the city was expected so that we could refill our water vessels. All of this caused and aggravated by climate change, which affects our reality in the community until today'. For experiencing the effects of climate change at an early age, and fighting for indigenous rights in Brazil and the forests. In 2016 she met Enjamundo, and with the same organization, she went to Poland to participate in COP.
Link for the article: https://www.engajamundo.org/2019/11/14/a-historia-de-hamangai-pataxo-ha-ha-hae/?lang=e
The countries that benefit most from oil extraction are some of the great economic powers in the northern hemisphere. The countries that extract the most oil are, respectively: United States, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada, and China. In this way, countries produce hundreds of barrels and thousands of dollars for the country's economy. The profitability of this economic activity is crucial for so many countries to do so, but the ecological costs of it are enormous.
Oil-producing countries have an important role in climate change since oil and oil products are one of the components that pollute the most. However, these countries are not the most affected by oil production; according to the data presented by the Germanwatch institute during COP 25, the countries with the highest risk index are, respectively: Japan, the Philippines, Germany, Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. Therefore, the countries most affected by climate change are not the same as those related to oil activity.
The consequences caused by climate change affect all countries since it generates changes in the climate of the biosphere as a whole. Thus, the general effects of these changes in the climate generate economic impacts, for generating agricultural losses, and natural disasters. Some examples are the countries that have already been listed as most impacted by the Germanwatch Institut:
- Japan: In 2018, heavy rains, heatwaves, the Osaka earthquake, and Jebi typhoon, made 1,282 deaths and caused economic losses of 35,839 million dollars;
- Philippines: In 2018, Typhoon Mangkhut's passage through the Philippines affected more than 250,000 people across the country and left at least 59 dead due to torrential rainfall. Also, extreme weather events caused a total of 455 deaths in the country that year, and a drop in GDP of 0.48% per capita, representing 4,540 million US dollars;
- Germany: In 2018, the hottest year in its history with damages of more than 3,500 million dollars for the agricultural sector. The weather events in Germany caused a total of 1,246 deaths and losses of 5,038 million dollars and a decrease in per capita GDP of 0.12%;
- Madagascar: Adverse weather events have also made the African country one of the most vulnerable to climate change with 72 deaths, and about 568 million dollars in economic losses, and a drop in per capita GDP of 1.32%. Also, global warming is threatening the survival of the lemur and other endemic animal species;
- India: In 2018, extreme heat, floods, and sandstorms, among other devastating natural events caused the death of 2,000 people, and losses of 37,807 million dollars, and a decrease in per capita GDP of 0.36%.
As already analyzed, even countries that do not participate in oil activities are suffering from the consequences of climate change, so I believe that it is everyone's role to deal with these changes. However, there are many different situations, and we cannot expect countries with different social and economic backgrounds to have the same rate of responsibility. But, in my opinion, I think that the countries that have caused the greatest impacts can start by investing in alternative ways of generating energy, for example.
My country is a major oil producer, so I find it very difficult for Brazil to take any action regarding the decrease in oil use. However, there are less polluting options like ethanol, a fuel that the biggest producer is Brazil. In this way, it is likely that Brazil can replace gasoline and diesel with ethanol.
Sources:
https://www.iberdrola.com/envi...
https://www.investopedia.com/investing/worlds-top-oil-producers/#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20is%20the,19%25%20of%20the%20world's%20production.
