Less than five months before a presidential election, the dates of which have still not been officially validated, the community of environmental defenders in Madagascar met yesterday, Tuesday June 20, to discuss with the public the importance of refocusing the programs of future candidates on the ecological issues in the country. The island’s natural capital, environmental crimes, sustainable development: so many themes addressed by the panelists to invite citizens not to let themselves be fooled by electoralist speeches but also to send some messages to those who would like to enter the race to the presidential one.
from our correspondent in Antananarivo,
In 2014, Madagascar’s total wealth was estimated at $6,500 per capita. More than a third of it came from natural capital, that is to say the renewable or non-renewable resources offered by nature. However, as the panelists noted, the “environmental protection” card is often brandished for electoral purposes.
” To political figures, to future candidates, I will tell them that they stop fooling the Malagasy population with promises that are neither profitable nor achievable, and which will only serve to create other problems, warns Ny Aro Andriamiarosoa, President of Climates Madagascar, an association that fights against the effects of climate change. I am thinking in particular of the cable car construction project in the capital (made possible following the granting by France of a criticized loan of 152 million euros in 2021). We are not against development but was it the priority? We are facing several problems at the same time. Shouldn’t we have focused on other subjects instead of investing in this cable car? »
For the new militant generation, like Lucky Andrianirina, founding member of Aika, the first National Youth Alliance for Biodiversity, Climate and the Fight against Desertification, the lax attitude of leaders – current and past – towards protection of the environment and the law in force no longer applies.
” There are programs that are produced by technicians from the ministries, objectives that are defined in the national adaptation programs, positions already prepared when we go to the COP, but it happens that the people who come to the podium , say something else. It shows how leaders are not as invested as they say in environmental issues and natural capital in particular. »
Environmental advocates recommend that leaders engage better with civil society organizations and stop viewing them as opponents. ” We are for development. Yes we are checks and balances, but we have no intention of taking your place, so listen to us! recalled, not without humour, one of the speakers in the debate.