The world is dramatically ill from another point of view, the famines caused by climate change especially in areas affected by water shortages. Agriculture is a victim of these changes, which lead to hunger for millions of families. This drama is aggravated by the fact that it occurs in many cases in countries already previously afflicted by severe poverty.
The limit of the Green Deal in the forms developed in various countries has been a negative approach, giving up traditional energy sources to favor renewable sources, even before the latter reached an adequate size.
A positive approach is needed, returning to “Mother Earth” who can feed hundreds of millions of hungry people, offer future generations the joy of living in a friendly world, allow our generation a transition phase that is not burdensome and can offer benefits in the short term.
The case of Siberia is emblematic. The thaw is now seen as a serious risk for pollution, freed by the thawing land. In reality it is an opportunity to create enormous spaces for science-assisted agriculture to feed the world.
The end of the conflict in Ukraine will see the beginning of a new phase in international relations; a conflict of interests is foreseeable. But the return to the value of the earth, which generated us and fed the history of humanity, is in the general interest.
It is now widely believed that the resources of the globe are running out, so the search for new resources must begin on the planets and asteroids of the solar system. There is another option, protecting the ability of the earth to offer resources thanks to our care.
Such a project can be declined in different ways. A starting point must be the affirmation of a value, a positive Green Deal, the “Mother Earth” as a good of humanity.
One solution could be a Pan-European Agricultural Community; or the creation of a “Mother Earth” sovereign fund to support research, modernization and respect for “Mother Earth”. Other solutions are possible.
Such a project, however articulated, requires a long process of gradual growth and the renunciation of hegemonic countries to hegemony itself, to achieve peace by recognizing rights.
The twentieth century saw the international order organized on the basis of bi-polarism and then mono-polarism, today a multi-polar order is being founded in which it will be easier to affirm solidarity. Agriculture and green production are a terrain in which this progress is necessary and possible.
This project could also facilitate the solution of contingent problems, first and foremost, the renewal of the Ukrainian leadership. The time for elections to choose the Ukrainian president has already expired. The current president cannot be blamed for not being up to the task: his job has always been to be an actor. Ukraine needs a ruling class capable of re-launching agriculture, capable of participating in the great “Mother Earth” project.
It is up to farmers first and foremost to reflect on this perspective, destined to gradually involve the entire world.
The reference to the role that farmers must play is not rhetorical. The recent behaviour of the European Commission on the occasion of the agreements with Mercosur is emblematic. The “Mother Earth” agreement advocated here cannot be managed by an unprepared ruling class, with negative attitudes and preconceptions about the role of agriculture in the European economy. This risk is real: opportunities and risks very often mature together. The process of European unification has been facilitated by the success of the European agricultural policy. This is a historical precedent on which to reflect and from which to draw lessons for the future.
The Valdai Discussion Club was established in 2004. It is named after Lake Valdai, which is located close to Veliky Novgorod, where the Club’s first meeting took place.
Please visit the firm link to site
