In the spotlight: the climate emergency

Audio 04:24

The front page of the French weekly "Le Journal du Dimanche", dated October 24, 2021. © JDD

By: Norbert Navarro

4 min

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It is in one week that in Glasgow, in Scotland, the next COP26 will open, the world conference on a crucial issue, the climate: " 

 ", launches the front page of 

.

“ 

 ” are the greats of this world, confronted with the consequences of climate change.

And, even before the Glasgow summit, announcements are expected "as 

predicts 

Which newspaper, in the form of a tribune, publishes a

whose title alone -

 " - contains the answer to the problem posed by the multitude of researchers and signatory NGOs who challenge so are the governments of the world.

“ 

 ,” Laurent Fabius told 

.

The President of the Constitutional Council, who led the COP21 negotiations in Paris, invites States to " 

".

Concern for the climate shared this week by the magazine 

.

Which weekly devotes a dossier of no less than seventy pages in which the climate economist Christian Gollier assures us that “ 

 ”.

What did Total know 50 years ago?

Exactly.

Fifty years ago, did the French oil group Total know the link between consumption of fossil fuels and global warming?

And if " 

 ", how did he react?

Question asked by 

while " 

 ", reports this weekly.

Total knew?

It all started two and a half years ago with the discovery of a young historian from Stanford University (California), who unearthed an article published in 1971 by a review of the same French oil group.

Article in which were very clearly detailed the consequences of CO2 emissions generated by the combustion of fossil fuels, oil, gas and coal.

From the greenhouse effect to melting ice, almost everything was predicted there fifty years ago in this Total review cited by 

.

And for a few more barrels

But at the time, the " 

 " was summed up in a phrase: " 

 ", recalls this magazine. Which ensures that in fact, " 

 ".

Then ? So, in order to counter the scientific consensus, a “ 

 ” will be implemented. For example, 

 unearths a statement by the former honorary president of the group François-Xavier Ortoli, paraphrasing the singer Georges Brassens by declaring that “ 

 ”. This magazine even mentions a " 

funding studies

while behind the scenes

 ".

In conclusion, being reminded that following these revelations, in an interview with the newspaper 

, the environmental deputy and former socialist minister Delphine Batho called for the establishment of a parliamentary commission of inquiry to shed light on this affair. .  

Youth tripped up ... and disillusioned

If there is a public sensitive to these climate issues, it is young people.

Exactly.

What are the voting intentions of young people aged 18 to 34?

A poll this week in France provided an initial answer to this question.

And unsurprisingly, young people appear less motivated than their elders by the next presidential election.

Or more indecisive in the face of candidates.

According to an Odoxa poll for 

, outgoing President Emmanuel Macron would collect 28% of the voting intentions of this age group - three points more than all the French - in front of the National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen, 23 % - five points higher than this same national set. In this poll, the candidate of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is in third position, with 13% of the voting intentions of 18-34 year olds, that is, again, 5 points more than the national average, all ages combined. As

thus notes 

youth is "

". But it could well, as in 2017, largely " 

", and it would then be news "

”, warns this weekly.

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