Arriving in Dubai on Dec. 1, before his Dec. 3-4 trip to Beijing and a meeting with Xi Jinping that went for an unscheduled four hours, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko blew a big hole in the hypocritical COP28 confabulation. The real ecological danger for our planet, he said, comes from the same powers that spoke so passionately about preserving the environment, but that have set the world on fire in brutal wars. After congratulating the U.A.E. for holding the conference, which he remarked had gathered more people than the UN General Assembly, he generalized about how all the people had talked so warmly about the need to save our environment and preserve it for our children and grandchildren. Then he went on: “Scientists make the gloomiest forecasts. It is very progressive that we hear them and respond to them. But in order to effectively counteract the threat, we have to honestly and openly identify its underlying causes. First of all, it is the absence of the sense of moderation in the drive towards global supremacy, including military supremacy (I’d say it is primarily military supremacy) on the part of those who provoke and start wars in various parts of the planet. And wars are the main source of dirt on our continent.
“How can one expect costly and effective climate preservation measures from countries and nations that have yet to recover from colonial oppression?” He called for countries to provide support for developing countries and to work for “climate security” for all nations, and stop expressing “concern,” which everyone will forget in a week, and start working to preserve life on our planet. “We have no moral right to only live for ourselves. We have to look beyond the horizon. We have to respect nature’s laws and create the foundation for the continuation of the human race here and now. On our planet.”
