On the ‘Climate Problem’ on the Eve of the COP31 Summit

The preparations for the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31), scheduled for November 2026 and tasked with formulating resolutions on the so-called ‘climate problem,’ have become embroiled in scandal.

The History of the ‘Climate Problem’: Key Questions

When was the ‘climate problem’ transferred from the realm of scientific research into that of political practice? (It is significant to pinpoint that the extreme politicisation of this ‘problem’ is a widely acknowledged fact, both among its proponents and, particularly, its detractors.)

How justified is its presence on the current political agenda?

As a potential starting point for the emergence of this particular issue, one might indicate the 1972 Conference on the generalised topic of Human Environment (also under the auspices of the United Nations), which indeed constituted a highly noteworthy and useful event. Let us recall just two ideas from the extensive document adopted as a result of the event: ‘Man is both creature and moulder of his environment, which gives him physical sustenance…’ and the need ‘to demonstrate greater care regarding the consequences of (human) activity for the environment’.

In essence, these words merely fix at a high political level the age-old wisdom of taking care of the home in which one lives and works. However, the document as a whole shows no trace of the current central objective, namely the ‘impending danger from greenhouse gas emissions’ as a consequence of that very activity. It is hardly coincidental that this ‘threat’ rose to the political surface at the end of the 1980s, that is, during the twilight of the Cold War. Please note — together with a number of other equally ‘scientifically grounded’ postulates and projects, such as the ‘End of History’ and the ‘Washington Consensus.’

At that same time, S.H. Schneider, who had previously specialised in the issue of the ‘foremost greenhouse gas,’ carbon dioxide – which is indeed........

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