In climate change “another determining factor has been an increase in changed uses of the soil, principally deforestation for agricultural purposes.” Deforestation and the resulting desertification, the degradation of water resources and the loss of soil have affected approximately 94% of Madagascar's biologically productive land. Due in large part to this, the country is currently unable to provide adequate food, clean water and sanitation for its rapidly growing population.

“It is an attempt to legitimize the present model of distribution, where a minority believes that it has the right to consume in a way which can never be universalized, since the planet could not even contain the waste products of such consumption. Besides, we know that approximately a third of all food produced is discarded, and “whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor».” The FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, declared in 2011 that, while hunger increases in the world, 1/3 of the food produced worldwide is lost or wasted, after having invested resources for its production. The seriousness of the problem has led to its inclusion in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (target 12.3). ✓

“In tropical and subtropical seas, we find coral reefs comparable to the great forests on dry land, for they shelter approximately a million species, including fish, crabs, molluscs, sponges and algae. Many of the world’s coral reefs are already barren or in a state of constant decline.” Coral reefs are key places for biodiversity. In less than 0.2% of the total ocean surface, they are home to 30% of marine species. Corals, when healthy, have colour, thanks to the symbiotic algae that live in them (and are responsible for photosynthesis). When under stress conditions, they are bleached (expel algae). Global warming is bringing dramatic changes to coral reef ecosystems; causing bleaching and subsequently, the death of the coral. The Great Barrier Reef (Australia) suffers the worst bleaching episode in history, calling into question the future of the world's largest living ecosystem. Life outside of water depends on the health of life underwater, including the well-being of coral reefs. ✓

“Lack of housing is a grave problem in many parts of the world, both in rural areas and in large cities, since state budgets usually cover only a small portion of the demand. Not only the poor, but many other members of society as well, find it difficult to own a home. Having a home has much to do with a sense of personal dignity and the growth of families.” In countries like Spain the eviction problem is extremely serious, showing that money is above people. At this time, the coronavirus crisis unevenly targets people according to their living conditions. How different it is to live confinement in the suburbs, in the 4x4 houses made of sheet metal and cardboard, where the cold is COLD and the heat sears and burns: houses where what you earned yesterday is today's food; where, if you didn’t earn anything yesterday, you cannot buy food today; where people know they must wash their hands frequently, but it is impossible to do so: there is no water. People live in fear, but they have not the means. ✓

“The foreign debt of poor countries has become a way of controlling them, yet this is not the case where ecological debt is concerned. In different ways, developing countries, where the most important reserves of the biosphere are found, continue to fuel the development of richer countries at the cost of their own present and future. The land of the southern poor is rich and mostly unpolluted, yet access to ownership of goods and resources for meeting vital needs is inhibited by a system of commercial relations and ownership which is structurally perverse.” "This is not the time for selfishness," said Pope Francis at Mass on Easter Sunday in an empty St. Peter's Basilica, due to restrictions because of the coronavirus. Focusing on those in greatest need, he asked all countries to face the pandemic together. Thus, he suggested that a good way to help is "reducing, or even forgiving, the debt that weighs on the budgets of the poorest countries." ✓

“Let us mention, for example, those richly biodiverse lungs of our planet which are the Amazon and the Congo basins… The ecosystems of tropical forests possess an enormously complex biodiversity which is almost impossible to appreciate fully …” The biophysical diversity of microorganisms, flora and fauna, is especially important for outstanding medical and pharmacological discoveries. Loss of biodiversity can limit the discovery of possible treatments for many diseases and health problems. ✓

“We know that technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels – especially coal, but also oil and, to a lesser degree, gas – needs to be progressively replaced without delay. Until greater progress is made in developing widely accessible sources of renewable energy …” Ecuador: On April 7, 2020, an oil spill occurred in the San Rafael sector, contaminating the channels of the Coca River and the Napo River (Francisco de Orellana province). The incident could have been avoided; warnings had been issued. It is estimated to be the largest oil spill in the past 20 years- 35,000 people are directly affected. ✓

“It is hard for us to accept that the way natural ecosystems work is exemplary: plants synthesize nutrients which feed herbivores; these in turn become food for carnivores, which produce significant quantities of organic waste which give rise to new generations of plants. But our industrial system, at the end of its cycle of production and consumption, has not developed the capacity to absorb and reuse waste and by-products. We have not yet managed to adopt a circular model of production capable of preserving resources for present and future generations, while limiting as much as possible the use of non-renewable resources, moderating their consumption, maximizing their efficient use, reusing and recycling them.” Green Peace is inviting us to take advantage of this crisis, which has shown that we can stop in order to reorient the economy: “The economy of the future must be truly circular: a new way of operating where what we do or use is designed within planetary limits, where it does not wasteful and polluting consumption occurs, where cooperative models are prioritized and where natural systems are regenerated ... truly circular zero waste economy strategy involves making sure that affected workers in all sectors receive adequate transitional compensation and job training green." ✓