Text on flyer being used in Paris at COP21 by anti-nuclear & climate change campaigners (in English & French):
Climate change: a threat for international relations.
Climate change is already causing tensions and major conflicts, as the analyses of numerous experts demonstrate.
One example: Europe currently receives hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing death, torture and hunger. This exile is not unrelated to climate change. Drought in Syria, from 2006 to 2011, forced many farmers to abandon their land and to take refuge in cities, contributing to the destabilization of the region. The despair of these populations is taken advantage of now by “Islamic State.”
Refugees from climate change mostly move within their own countries, fleeing flooded or desert regions, but a time will soon come when they seek asylum elsewhere and will become political refugees, because of the resulting local or regional crises. We are witnessing the beginning of this phenomenon.
Nuclear weapons are also a major threat.
Currently there are 16,000 operational bombs of which 2,000 are on alert, ready for launch in about ten minutes. Recent studies show that the possibility of a strike caused by human error or madness cannot be excluded. Over the past 70 years, the Apocalypse has been narrowly avoided on several occasions! With the rise of predictable conflicts, nuclear weapons must be eliminated as soon as possible.
Let us stop the waste and create genuine security for all
The money wasted to build, maintain and retain nuclear weapons (on a world scale, 100 billion euros per year) is money taken from the funds needed to prevent global warming, which is estimated to take a similar amount: 100 billion euros!
Preventing conflict, eliminating weapons of mass destruction, limiting global warming: these must be the objectives of the XXI century
Download COP21 Flyer as a Word doc with French & English text.
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COP21: Beginner’s guide to the UN Paris climate summit – http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34953626