The Pill Outdoor Journal 49

EDITO

It should have ended on November, Friday 12th. It lasted one day more, until Saturday night. After Cop26 what remains are rivers of declarations, agreements and commitments, but also the feeling, crystallized in Alok Sharma’s final emotion, that it was another missed opportunity to fight climate change.

The difficulty of bringing all the countries present together is inevitable, just as the evolution that has taken place since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 is undoubted. But going to the bottom, in the deluge of words, we realize the poverty of facts accomplished in Glasgow. The most optimistic people summarize the picture of an agreement that “saves the commitments taken in Paris”. Exactly, taken in Paris, six years ago.

Of course, the goal of limiting global warming to 1,5° C compared to pre-industrial levels has been maintained, when today we are already experiencing, dramatically, an increase of 1,1° C. A goal that requires rapid, deep and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions. But let’s remember that $11 million per minute is given to oil companies and companies related to the distribution of their derivatives. The International Monetary Fund has shown that in 2020 the extractive industry received US $5,9 trillion government grants, 6,8% of world GDP allocated to subsidies for fossil fuels. These are the stratospheric interests that have slowed down in Scotland the start of an increasingly urgent ecological conversion that is loudly claimed by millions of young people. On the night between Saturday and Sunday, beyond the official deadline, the step requiring the elimination of electricity developed by coal has turned into a “gradual reduction”.

From “phase-out” to “phase-down” to be precise. A request from countries like India and China which rely heavily on it and would still like to be able to count, given the great hunger for energy to which they will be subjected in the coming years. Of course, it is the first time that this fuel is explicitly mentioned in the United Nations conference. It will therefore be a question of understanding how to accelerate its exit with a strong push on renewable energies. But India, in the meantime, is planning to open 55 new mines and expand the 193 existing mining plants. And in Europe? While discussing on the day after tomorrow of a future nuclear next generation, the leaders are already sitting at the head of the Next Generation funds.

These are the facts, behind the announcements in favor of the camera, in front of the Trevi Fountain or in front of the Prince of Wales. A game in which mainstream information eagerly bites with now rampant “green” inserts, full of stories and jokes. Either the fight against the “climate crisis” is held together with the fight for “climate justice”, or what has been released by the mobilizations around the Cop26 will be lost. Polarization and economic hardship require courageous and structured responses, not strange stills in party rooms. As things stand now, how to blame Vanessa Nakate’s concluding comment: “We cannot adapt to hunger. We cannot adapt to extinction. We can’t eat coal. We can’t drink oil. We will not give up.”

Davide Fioraso

What will you find in The Pill Outdoor Journal 49? 

Lor Sabourin
Protagonist of They/Them, a docufilm by Patagonia that aims to emphasize the theme of gender identity in the outdoors.

Jérémy Prevost
10 years after the Freeride World Tour’s podium, the athlete has finally reconciled with the loved “wooden planks”.

Simon Messner
“Traditional Alpinism” tells a way of experiencing alpinism linked to the cultural background of the mountains’ history.

Home Lines
Eva Toschi tells us about the short film supported by Picture, about a group of young people who spend 9 days in the French Alps on an environmentally friendly adventure.

Noah Grynberg
Our ultrarunner Filippo Caon tells us about Noah. From Los Angeles to Trento to prepare for his first 100 miles: Leadville 100, in Colorado, one of the hardest and most historic races in the United States.

A lesson to (re)learn
The badass mountain guide Il Matte (Matteo Faletti) and the photographer Matteo Pavana learn an important lesson from a mother who has always been there for them: the mountain.

Calümer The angel of Grigne
Every hiker can face a peak knowing that someone will try to save him, thanks to people like Calümer, a mountain rescuer who has dedicated his life to the mountains, all through the incredible vision of Achille Mauri.

The true story of Barbanera
Chiara Guglielmina tells us a story that has to do with marrow, prayer, courage and rudeness, beer, numbers and running, with life in short.

Cansiglio Classic Tour
An exciting Gravel Bike Trip, in collaboration with Komoot app, to discover Cansiglio, thanks to our Davide Fioraso’s texts and Camilla Pizzini’s images.