Nabil Bonduki: Ten things citizens can do to tackle the climate crisis, plus swearing at Bolsonaro

Today, when COP26 begins, it is redundant to talk about the setback that Bolsonaro meant for the climate agenda in Brazil, among the many disasters that his government caused.

This was more than predictable in the 2018 campaign, when he promised to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and stated that his government’s goal was to “destroy”. Only those who deny the scientific evidence about the anthropic role in raising the Earth’s temperature, as shown by the IPCC report released in August, still defend the president on this issue.

As impeachment is unlikely, we lost four precious years at a crucial moment, as the central government’s role is irreplaceable in structuring a strategy to successfully fulfill the commitments of the Paris Agreement.

An example of the role that the federal government can play was the structuring of a forest protection policy during the PT governments, which was responsible for reducing deforestation in the Amazon (from 27,800 km² in 2004 to 4,900 km² in 2014), component that is our main villain in the emission of greenhouse gases.

It is not by chance that, during this period, Brazil started to be considered an environmental power, became a global leader in the effort to face the climate crisis and one of the main protagonists in the COPs. Today he is an outcast.

Although the current minister of the Environment is seeking to regain Brazil’s credibility, it is not credible that Bolsonaro can change his stance, given his isolationist effort at the G20 Summit in Rome and his absence at COP26 in Glasgow. It only remains to wait for the end of this government and work so that the next one faces the issue with determination and boldness to do what needs to be done.

Meanwhile, city halls and state governments could have taken on a more prominent role. Unlike the president, some mayors and governors have assumed, in their speech, a posture of facing the crisis. Climate plans have been drawn up, an advance that in practice has generated few effective actions.

Faced with this situation, what can ordinary citizens do to contribute to the confrontation of the climate emergency, in addition to shouting “out, Bolsonaro”, to kicking about on social networks, to organize to denounce and resist the environmental crimes visible in the four corners of the parents?

Despite not having the reach of government policies, small urban initiatives to change the way of life, consumption and behavior, mobility, energy and solid waste management, can play an important role in generating small contributions to reducing emissions that , multiplied by millions, could have a significant result. Among them, we could mention:

1. Leave your car at home and use public transport. In addition to saving (a liter of gasoline exceeded R$ 6), remember that gasoline-powered individual transport is the main responsible for the emissions of greenhouse gases in cities and that you contribute to mitigating climate change. Mobility accounts for 62% of emissions in a city like São Paulo, according to the inventory carried out by the city.
2. Fill the car with ethanol if it is unavoidable to use it. Sugarcane ethanol reduces CO emissions by 73%₂, if used as a replacement for gasoline. Your conscience is a little less burdened.
3. Walk or cycle for daily short and medium distance activities. There is no cleaner fuel than active mobility. Two kilometers of walking and five kilometers of biking (round trip) takes about an hour, the same amount of time you would spend at the gym for a workout. You save on mobility and gym, populate public space and reduce emissions.
4. After you get out of the habit of using the car, get rid of it (whew!) and apply the money to eventually take a taxi. You will no longer worry about parking, insurance, property tax, maintenance, fines and the risk of theft or accidents. The city will be better and less polluted and you will contribute with one less car emitting CO₂.
5. Don’t think that this will be temporary and the electric car will solve the environmental problem of individual motorized mobility by not using fossil fuel. In addition to being expensive, it keeps all the other problems out of a car. Your battery will need to be supplied by electricity, which is increasingly scarce and which, depending on the source, can cause emissions to be generated.
6. Reduce electricity consumption. Stationary energy generates 29% of the city’s emissions. Review your home’s electrical installations, putting in more economical light bulbs and sensors that turn off the lights when the room is unoccupied. Propose the same initiative in the common areas of the condominiums and, also, that only one elevator is connected during low traffic hours.
7. Install solar energy panels with photovoltaic cells in your house or building, turning the house into a microelectric power plant. Solar energy generated in the building and not used will be used in the electricity grid, reducing the electricity bill and contributing to the generation of energy from a renewable source. In about three to five years, the savings cover the investment.
8. Reduce the generation of solid waste (garbage) and, above all, its disposal in landfills, which generate 9% of emissions. Separate the waste generated in your home into three fractions: dry, which must be recycled; organic, to be composted; and tailings, the only fraction that should be sent to landfills (from 10% to 20% of the total).
9. Install a worm farm or composter in your home, where you should dispose of organic waste. And if the city does not have a specific collection for recyclables, look for a cooperative of collectors or a collector who frequents the neighborhood and deliver the dry waste.
10. Refuse packaging from non-recyclable materials, such as Styrofoam trays. Do not use and refuse, whenever possible, plates, cutlery and disposable cups. Whenever possible, opt for returnable packaging. Now that the pandemic has cooled, use online shopping and restaurant delivery only when it’s essential, as they generate a plethora of useless packaging.

Ordinary people need to understand that facing the climate crisis is not just a matter for the summits of heads of state, these COPs that take place every year, but that it is an issue related to our daily lives.

It is clear that initiatives such as those mentioned above, in order to gain scale, require effective actions by the government, such as better public transport, bicycle paths, qualified sidewalks, educational campaigns on waste management and financing for the installation of solar panels.

But, in the meantime, they generate an educational demonstration effect necessary to change mentalities and the urban way of life, indispensable in mitigating the climate crisis.