International Conferences on Sustainable Development and Climate from Rio de Janeiro to Paris

Abstract

To cope with the problems caused by global warming whose effects began to be felt in the second half of the twentieth century, 21 summits have been held in order to identify the causes and the measures to be taken for a sustainable solution to the problem. This article reviews the results obtained in the various summits, highlighting both their positive and negative aspects and emphasizing the close relationships between climatic and territorial conditions. This approach is inevitable given the disastrous consequences that would result if the current trend of climate change were to escape human control, at least for that part of it caused by human activities. We examine the current state of affairs by studying the causes that led to such a situation, the seriousness of which the major powers seem unable to accept nor find acceptable solutions that would reduce the dangers. A decisive role has been played by increased pollution in its many forms (agriculture, industry, domestic heating, traffic, etc.) caused by the use of fossil fuels that have led to an impressive increase in greenhouse gas emissions, with inevitable repercussions on the increase in the global temperature of the planet. Numerous global conferences have been held with the explicit aim of setting up the necessary safeguards, whose results to date have not, unfortunately, led to final decisions but to mere declarations of willingness to resolve the issue. All this has had and has an immediate feedback in further health-related issues, due to an increase in diseases closely related to environmental pollution, as well as the growing desertification of many areas resulting in a reduced quality of life.