Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore speaks in Colombia’s capital Bogota on solutions to climate change, newspaper El Espectador reported Thursday.
On Wednesday, at the invitation of newspaper El Espectador and Caracol TV, Gore spoke in front of 1,200 people to discuss the science behind climate change and practical solutions nations can carry out to overcome the global crisis.
“The challenges I am presenting are related to innovation and developing countries like Colombia have a big task ahead,” said the former vice president, who has taken on the task of educating the world about climate change.
Gore proposed that Colombia should focus on “putting a price on carbon” by implementing taxes on fossil fuels like coal and oil, which is the largest supplier of greenhouse gases.
“CO2 is an invisible gas, but it is destroying our future. I know it is politically difficult to do this, but we live one of those moments in history when we need to think differently,” he said.
Carlos Alejandro Perez, president of Caracol TV, opened the event by discussing Colombia’s various “green” initiatives to catch up with the global trend of reducing its carbon footprint. Medellin‘s metro system and raising the quality of diesel fuel to comply with international standards were two examples given.
Coca Cola and the energy group Endesa were two companies that attended the environmental forum. Coca Cola, which uses water to produce its soft drinks, said it has planted more than a million trees in Colombia in areas of water value.
Energy group Endesa verbally renewed its commitment to clean energy sources, such as solar wind. Also, it announced plans to install eight points to recharge car batteries in Bogota after signing a contract with Renault to import electric cars.
“We cannot fool ourselves. We live in a dangerous time. No one should be indifferent. However, there are still the incredulous and the conformists who evade responsibility,” said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at the forum, reminding Colombian not to make the mistakes of the past.