Prince Jaime: Mankind can win just like athlete Hassan

The Dutch climate ambassador, Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Farme, sees global warming as increasing “speed”. He hopes to follow the example of Siban Hassan, the best athlete who fell in the 1500 meters, but then ran for Olympic gold in the 5th and 10th kilometers. “We stumbled as a team man, but we can still win.”

Princess Irene’s son told a meeting of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) that if we want to control climate change more, we must all work together. Jaime was appointed in April. He will attend the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow early next month with Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

The expectations of that summit are high, and to some extent the UN. The climate group is due to the IPCC’s latest report. A team of climate scientists has warned that the weather is changing faster and faster. According to scientists, it is now clear that humans are emitting more and more carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.

Second comment

The meteorological ambassador, the son-in-law of King Willem-Alexander, noted that some people still want to look away. “That’s understandable. You want to hide from the bad news. If the doctor says you have cancer, you can ask for a second opinion. But the picture has become more and more sharp.”

Prince Jaime recalled that in 1989 the first attempt to reduce CO2 emissions was made in Nordwijk. “If only it had worked.” According to him, the current situation is “not very good”. He sees various obstacles to economic interests and making good deals against climate change, such as China “will not be lectured”. He sees poor countries as “reluctant to pay” between rich countries for the costs of maintaining themselves against high sea levels and high drought.

Momentum

Still, according to the ambassador, there is “a lot of speed”. After a four-year stalemate under Donald Trump who rescinded the Paris climate deal, the United States wants to rejoin under President Joe Biden, calling Jaime “very positive.” This also applies to China’s recent decision not to build coal-fired power plants in other countries. Turkey may still sign the climate agreement and the climate ambassador is also seeing positive developments in countries such as South Africa and Indonesia. “It’s not enough yet, but we’re accelerating. That’s a good sign.”

BUZZR