Alejandro Quecedo, SEO/Birdlife activist: "Our politicians are unaware of the severity of the climate crisis."

By Mari Navas

Madrid, July 31 (EFE).- At just 23 years old, Alejandro Quecedo (Briviesca, Burgos) has already had time to represent Spain at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, serve as an advisor to UNESCO, and lead the Youth Board of the SEO/Birdlife organization. But that's not all.

The young man, who is studying a master's degree in Environmental Studies and Philosophy in Paris, advocates in an interview with EFEverde for local action against climate change, in a context in which politicians "are unaware of the severity of the crisis."

In his opinion, the current belief in political circles is that the climate crisis "is manageable" and that there is "a reluctance to reduce" carbon dioxide globally "in the interest of maintaining both economic and political competitiveness."

"The price to pay is that there won't be effective mitigation of climate change, and the politicians making this decision believe that the disasters that are coming will be manageable. They come at a price: thousands of lives, millions in losses, but it's a price they believe will be cheaper than losing that competitiveness," he asserts.

From birds to the COP

Alejandro's activism began through birds, after his time at summer camps in the Riaza River Gorges made him more interested in these animals and he began to ask questions.

Later, his awareness of the ecological crisis and his activism came to light, leading him to participate in the United Nations Conferences on climate change and even to write an essay about what was going on within its walls.

"One gets the impression that during this event there's a lot of talk about the climate crisis and climate action. There are many promises, but when it comes to negotiating treaties or taking decisive action, it's much more limited," he replies when asked how much truth and how much spectacle there is at these summits.

In his opinion, the COP is a double-edged sword, as on the one hand it is an event with "very valuable" dialogues and, on the other, it involves closed-door meetings with decisions made "in an undemocratic manner."

"For the moment, it's the only mechanism we have, but it's insufficient and certainly far more exclusive and vulnerable than we would like to the influence that oil lobbies and companies may have on decision-making and the final agreements of the treaties," he continues.

He explains that decisions are not being made in the assemblies "because what's at stake is nothing more or less than global hegemony," as it would mean conferring political power on an institution that currently lacks it.

Turning towards the local

Given this context, Quecedo advocates not waiting for global action, but rather taking action locally: "It's up to us, in the localities, municipalities, etc., to also analyze the impact that climate change will have on our region and prepare it to be resilient. And we're coming in too late in this regard."

In this sense, the young man believes that climate change is jeopardizing global ecological conditions, but also living conditions.

Spain, a natural powerhouse with numerous areas that should be part of the Natura 2000 Network

"What's really at stake is whether your town has drinking water. Or whether you have two months in the summer when you can't leave your house," he says, before explaining that there are "many actions that can be taken," ranging from town vegetation to protecting water resources.

An ethical question

Quecedo also believes it's important to transform sensibilities and culture and to address the ethical question of the level of personal involvement in each ecosystem.

"We are facing such a profound crisis, and its causes are so structural that thinking it's in our hands is a bit naive. But it is true that the ethical aspect is there, and we can ask ourselves if we want to participate in a system that is systematically destroying life," he says.

All of this is happening in a context of blatant fatalism, where we must accept that "we will never escape climate change," but also that "it will never cease to make sense" to pursue climate action.

"Because I insist, even a climate change of 2 or 2.1 degrees is a huge difference, and it's really worth getting involved as much as possible to mitigate that," he concludes.