Of all the things we do in the name of the environment, what is really useful? This is the starting point of the book just published by Víctor Resco, professor at the University of Lleida (UdL) and coordinator of the Joint Research Unit of Agrotecnio-CERCA and the Centre of Forest Science and Technology of Catalonia (CTFC).
The environmental alteration of the planet is such that we are beginning to talk about the Anthropocene, a new era characterised by the human footprint. ECOMITOS: los bulos ecológicos que agravan la crisis ambiental (Plataforma Editorial, 2024) is an essay in which Víctor Resco questions measures such as CO2 emissions quotas or reforestation programmes to compensate for them. In a context in which the United Nations and the European Union are preparing regulations to limit the danger of dumping the so-called plastic pellets, Ecomitos also addresses the effects of microplastics on human health.
“Most of the measures that are being taken within the European Green Deal fall into the ‘ecomyth’ category. They are measures that are popularly accepted, as citizens beliee that they go in the right direction. But the reality is that tackling the global crisis with ecomyths is like tackling windmills believing they are giants: an adventure that will not end well”, says Resco. “The Earth will not be cured with ideas, but with sound proposals. I try to encourage people not to legislate by headlines or tweets, to satisfy electoral interests, but by taking into account the scientific and technical evidence and also considering the social implications”, he adds.
His essay reviews issues such as the energy crisis; the use of plastics and their recycling; forest management; biodiversity and protected areas; overpopulation; and greenwashing of misleadingly green marketing.
For the author, “we need leaders who are sufficiently prepared to reverse environmental degradation, also considering the reduction of poverty and inequality, but without falling into de problem of ecomyths or false beliefs. We need leaders of knowledge and not of opinion, putting ideology aside and using sicence and culture ad a rudder”, he says. In the book, Victor Resco encourages decision-makers to avoid scaremongering and to focus on promoting scientific research.
Text: Premsa UdL / Plataforma Editorial / Agrotecnio Communications