Global emergency situation: urgent action is imperative

The global situation has reached an unprecedented and pressing level of complexity, and the current trends that need to be urgently addressed are greater in number and magnitude than in the past. With a world population of 8 billion human beings, the solutions applied so far to provide adequate food, efficient health services, quality education for all and, above all, "humane treatment" for all, have progressively shown their wear and tear and their inadequacy... The outlook is very bleak if we continue to think that "no one can fix this" and we are spectators of what is happening instead of actors fully involved in discovering and inventing solutions.

Yes: for the first time in history, the human species is progressively recognised as equal in dignity, whatever its gender, ethnicity, ideology, beliefs, sexual sensitivity, etc., and, moreover, it is able to express itself freely thanks to digital technology. Citizens, aware of global threats, particularly those that are potentially irreversible, can now act in favour of effective multilateralism on a planetary scale, can now fulfil their urgent intergenerational duties, can now ensure the preservation of the habitability of the Earth, can now exchange force for words...

For all this it is necessary to know, to remember and to act. Duty of memory... Crime of silence..., I have written it many times and I repeat it now. To invent the future and overcome inertia, it is imperative that "We, the peoples..." dare to know and know how to dare. If we remain spectators, impassive, distracted, abducted by social networks and "artificial" intelligence, we will not be able to "change course and ship" as Professor José Luis Sampedro advocated.

Now we can. We must act now, thinking of the generations to come. Otherwise, we would deserve that terrible sentence of Albert Camus, which I often quote: "I despise them because they dared so little when they could do so much".

Otto Schermer, in his recent splendid article "Protecting the flame", showed that we now, at last, have well-established guidelines and benchmarks, such as the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs to guide our daily behaviour. "We need to know what is happening, to respond creatively.... and to mobilise collectively", he writes. Know... and do! Science, conscience and the full use of the distinctive faculties of the human species...

As I have commented on other occasions, it is urgent to change confrontation for mediation and dialogue. Moving from "para bellum" to "para verbum" implies intergenerational alliances and alliances with the media to make the democratisation of multilateralism possible, starting with the United Nations System - adopting a Universal Declaration of Democracy, with the elimination of the five disqualifying vetoes since its very creation - and continuing with the European Union, incapable of deciding since it fell - or was pushed - into the trap of "unanimity".

Science and conscience for the benefit of the human species, ensuring that political decisions will in the future have the scientific basis that is essential to carry out the radical transformations demanded by the current situation on a planetary scale. As José Manuel Morán, Vice-President of the Spanish Chapter of the Club of Rome, underlined, "it is not only a question of being very clear about what should be done, but also about how".

I have already noted that one of the great challenges that must be addressed without delay is that of migration on a global scale. From 1 January this year to 9 March, 4 500 migrants have arrived on British shores alone. All human beings are equal in dignity and deserve equal treatment. It is a real disgrace, I never tire of repeating, that every day 4 billion dollars are spent on arms and military expenditure, while thousands of people die of hunger, extreme poverty and brutal uprooting... thousands of people die. The solution lies in a global pact on migration and the extension of the UN Convention on the Rights of Refugees. We must once and for all put an end to raised and armed hands and make open and outstretched ones proliferate. Now, in addition to territorial security, there is also human security, the security of the human beings who live in such well-protected territories.

It is particularly urgent to ensure that the Mare Nostrum ceases to be an unfortunate necropolis for so many immigrants, instead of agreeing - as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia have recently done - to place several nuclear submarines in the Pacific Ocean, each of which costs around 3.5 billion dollars...

It is necessary to take advantage of the extraordinary development of digital technology, but to ensure that robotisation never exceeds its limits and produces a very dangerous dehumanisation, especially when it comes to making decisions that must always make maximum use of the fantastic and hopeful faculties that distinguish the human species. It is a matter of improving the quality of life and productive capacity, with a conscious and responsible citizenship, and the fundamental pillar is, and always will be, full freedom, transforming data into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom.

Now, at last - and this is our hope - we can finally put into practice the first sentence of the United Nations Charter: "We the peoples ... have resolved to save succeeding generations from the horror of war". Until recently, "the peoples" did not exist... and male power was absolute. Now, at last, we recognise ourselves as equals and can express ourselves freely. Now we can stop being spectators of what is happening and participate now, without delay, in moving from a culture of confrontation, imposition, domination and war, to a culture of encounter, dialogue, mediation and peace, so that all conflicts, active or latent, are resolved by word and not by force.

There is an urgent need to replace plutocratic and supremacist G-group governance with democratic governance. The first step is to achieve a European Union without the blanket veto of "unanimity" and a renewed and fully multilateral United Nations. On the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we must activate great popular clamour for its validity and widespread respect while resolutely implementing the Climate Change Agreements and the 2030 Agenda. "The windows to ensure a sustainable future are closing", the United Nations has just announced... and "We, the peoples" continue to ignore the pressing appeals about the very habitability of the Earth..., we continue to postpone our essential duties concerning the future of our children and descendants... Social networks and the media keep us obedient, silent, distracted... while "the windows are closing"!

The visible irruption of the university students could initiate this process. "The silence of the intellectuals": this is the title of the excellent article by Boaventura de Sousa Santos in Other News on 28 February, which lucidly warns us about the attitude to adopt.

The duty to remember. "Let us remember in order to continue to make a better life possible", added Oscar Arias (Dec.2022)... "The lessons of our history, with the experiences they have taught us, show us that peace is achieved neither by weapons nor by war, neither by death nor by hatred, neither by forgetting nor by indifference... Peace is achieved by placing the human being at the centre of our concerns. Peace is achieved by defending life. Peace is achieved by investing in our peoples and not in our armies; by exchanging ideas and not bombs; by preserving forests and not prejudices. Peace is achieved by changing the culture of war to a culture of peace in our societies.

Now we know. Now we can. Now we must!