Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Macedonia in 2012: The Challenge of Climate Change

This article is also available in Macedonian
- на македонски на Блогерај: Македонија во 2012 г.: Предизвикот на климатските промени
- на македонски на Блогспот: Македонија во 2012 г.: Предизвикот на климатските промени
 

We are in real trouble. Macedonia, that is. Unless we analyze, think, and adapt - and focus on solving the problems identified by UNDP in its report Assessing the Economic Impact of Climate Change:
  • Energy will become much more expensive.
  • We'll have less water. Investing in hydro power will be worthless.
  • Agriculture will also be worthless, with lower yields the expected damages are bigger than current net income.
  • We have no analytical capacity = as a society and a state, we are clueless about what's going on. We do not want to know.

    Municipal workers cutting trees on the river bank in Veles.
    Locals claim Vardar has never been this low in December (2011).


    Our top political leaders never talk about projections beyond the next elections, and in the meantime they privatize the natural and economic resources for the benefit of political party-family oligarchies. Their followers indulge in nationalistic fantasies about conquering neighboring fields, or splitting the country along ethnic lines through referendum or war - never thinking about the living conditions in the resulting political entities. As if  once they accomplish their political goals, everything else will magically solve itself. The big picture, making analyses and plans spanning decades or generations to enable public good, is as absent now as it was in the XVIII century.

    Read the report, at least the Executive Summary.
    What is your priority for the next year? Next decade?