From December 2 to December 15, 2018 we were in Katowice Poland to document as far as possible the 24th annual conference (COP24) on the UN Convention on Climate Change.
"In France, the Yellow Vest movement, that was instigated by a rise in fuel tax, took place shortly before the start of COP24. This proved that struggle against climate change can't be effective without social justice and that the ecological transition isn't possible without strong accompanying measures." (1)
In the evening, returning to the room we rented from Madame Barbara, worn out by the day's photography and by the cold, we watched Polish television as we prepared dinner. The Kamizelek (Yellow Vests) in France, and shorly thereafter in Belgium, the Netherlands as well as Poland, were often the highlight of the evening news and the talk shows. Naturally enough I began to take photos with my very first "smartphone" equipped as they must be with a camera.
It must be admitted that the acts of violence occurring in Paris on the 1st of December during Act III of the mobilization around the Arc de Triomphe were extremely telephotogenic and provoked a major crisis at the heart of the French executive; enough to lead Mr Edouard Philippe, the Prime Minister of France, to cancel his trip to Katowice.
It is in this context of the 3rd of December that "Invited to speak in front of the assembled 196 states united by the Paris Accord, the Polish President, Andrzej Duda, had insisted on the importance of social consensus as the condition for success of environmental politics." Poland, which is in charge for one year of the work of the COP (succeeding the Fiji Islands), proposed to the heads of state and the governments meeting in Katowice to support a draft which she had written: the "The Declaration of Silesia for Solidarity and a Just Transition."
"We cannot put in place a climate politics contrary to the will of the people and to the detriment of living conditions, confirmed the leader of the PiS. This morning while preparing for the COP, I turned on the television and I saw these images from the streets of Paris, I understood these people who feel that they are not taken into account" Mr. Duda confided later to le Monde, proposing that Emmanuel Macron "refer to the Declaration of a Just Transition as a modus operandi" to find a good balance between a low-carbon economy, job creation, and quality of life. Monday evening nearly 40 countries joined this appeal to a just transition, according to an initial count by the president of the COP24. But several of the observers of the negotiations doubted the the host country's willingness to take the turn to a decarbonized economy. And for good reason, Poland is one of the European countries most dependent on mining, and not just Katowice, enveloped as it is in a smog of pollution and a sour odour." (2)
Here are a few (unpretentious) images of the "yellow vests" viewed from abroad which will certainly mark the history of France and that of the global struggle against climate change.
If we have placed at the end of the gallery of images seen on Polish TV of the attack that took place near the Christmas Market in Strasbourg on the evening of December 11 leaving 5 people dead and 11 wounded (3) it is because we had read that conspiracy theories were multiplying on Facebook groups of the Yellow Vests and that for many internet users it was, "a diversion of government mired in the yellow vest crisis for more than a month. 'And that's it!! What was to happen happened. An 'attack' triggered just a day after Macron's speech and before next Saturday's demonstrations ...' so wrote an internet user on the Facebook group Acte 5: Macron resigns, which brings out 62,000 people."
(1) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conférence_de_Katowice_de_2018_sur_les_changements_climatiques
(2) https://www.lemonde.fr/climat/article/2018/12/04/climat-la-pologne-reclame-une-transition-juste_5392473_1652612.html
(3) https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2018/12/16/attentat-de-strasbourg-le-bilan-s-alourdit-a-cinq-morts_5398498_3224.html
(4) https://www.francetvinfo.fr/faits-divers/terrorisme/fusillade-a-strasbourg/strasbourg-les-theories-du-complot-se-multiplient-sur-des-groupes-facebook-des-gilets-jaunes_3096507.html
From December 2 to December 15, 2018 we were in Katowice Poland to document as far as possible the 24th annual conference (COP24) on the UN Convention on Climate Change.
"In France, the Yellow Vest movement, that was instigated by a rise in fuel tax, took place shortly before the start of COP24. This proved that struggle against climate change can't be effective without social justice and that the ecological transition isn't possible without strong accompanying measures." (1)
In the evening, returning to the room we rented from Madame Barbara, worn out by the day's photography and by the cold, we watched Polish television as we prepared dinner. The Kamizelek (Yellow Vests) in France, and shorly thereafter in Belgium, the Netherlands as well as Poland, were often the highlight of the evening news and the talk shows. Naturally enough I began to take photos with my very first "smartphone" equipped as they must be with a camera.
It must be admitted that the acts of violence occurring in Paris on the 1st of December during Act III of the mobilization around the Arc de Triomphe were extremely telephotogenic and provoked a major crisis at the heart of the French executive; enough to lead Mr Edouard Philippe, the Prime Minister of France, to cancel his trip to Katowice.