2 degrees from anthropocide!

Tell me about your case!

Doctoral student at the University of Fribourg, Gaspard Lemaire, 28, lent himself to the game of three minutes to present his thesis during the My Thesis in 180 seconds competition.

“My Anthropocide thesis: should climate inaction be criminalized? starts from an observation: a little over thirty years ago, more than 150 States ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and in doing so they undertook to act to avoid a destabilization of the climate system which be harmful to our species. Since the 1990s, greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 80%, which is the opposite of what should have happened. According to the IPCC, what is at stake is our ability to preserve a viable future for our species.

The damage is unprecedented in the history of humanity and the climate inaction of States can only be thought of in terms of criminality. This cannot be reduced to an ecocide and as there are no words to designate this, I propose to resort to the notion of anthropocide. This term refers to all the actions and omissions of States which involve a significant destabilization of our climate system and consequently a partial destruction of the essential foundations of human life on Earth. It is the anthropos, the totality of the human being who is in danger with two degrees Celsius more.

Given that this notion is intended to be practical, my participation in the international science popularization competition My Thesis in 180 seconds was self-evident. Taking part in the three-minute game in front of the New World audience forced me to formulate things concisely and, I hope, as clearly as possible.

The interest would be to reach municipal, national or even international resolutions. The next step will be the publication of a scientific article so that the notion can be improved. Then I would like to publish a book to stimulate a debate that would go beyond the academic world. Manon Becker

(caption)Gaspard Lemaire proposes to rethink climate inaction in terms of crime with the concept of anthropocide. Manon Becker

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