Dear Fazleh,

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) will have ended with a paradox: although the organizers claim victory for reaching an agreement in the fight against greenhouse gases, it is the view of the world. opponents of such a struggle that continues to dominate the vocabulary.

The "rules book", also called "rules of application" (rulebook) adopted at the end of the week, is supposed to reinforce the Paris Agreement of 2015. For this "notebook" of 150 pages to be adopted, it was necessary that every word is the subject of a consensus of the 196 countries. In other words, for every word, it was enough for one country to object that it be placed in parentheses. If no compromise was found, which reached consensus again, the whole sentence disappeared. What's more, the new "notebook" does not attack the main problem that, even if the 196 countries comply with their Paris commitments, the planet would not escape a rise of 1.5 degrees by 2050, and probably not up to 2 degrees either. In fact, at present, estimates place most major polluters far from their 2020 or 2030 targets. Among the other hopes that have not materialized in the book: the issue of financial compensation to developing countries - some of those who will be most affected by climate change while having the least means to face them. As well as the paragraphs on a method of calculating carbon trading, which were blocked by Brazil, he was a defender until the election of his new far-right president. Discussions have been postponed until next year.

With my best regards

Prof. Bachir ACHOUR