Global health. The current scenario and future perspectives

87 iv) They condemned the weaker restrictions of the protocol on developing countries, particularly India and China, compared to developed countries. While the UNFCCC establishes a general mandate for all countries to reduce GHG emissions, the specific commitments of the Kyoto Protocol apply to the group of developed countries based on their better economic position to adopt environmental protection measures. In response to this last criticism, developing nations argue that it is unfair to burden their current economic development with environmental regulations while developed countries enjoyed unrestricted development in past decades. However, disputes over the balance between economic development and environmental protection, as well as the responsibilities of developed and developing countries, need to be urgently resolved, considering that scientific evidence has become stronger with regard to the causes and consequences of global warming. These consequences are now seen regularly in the press. Flooding and landslides due to heavy rains in Japan and other countries, heatwaves in the United States, Canada and Europe, droughts in the southern Amazon and the record number of hurricanes and floods in Central America during 2020 are becoming the “new normal” for our planet. Lastly, the Paris Agreement, the successor to the expired Kyoto Protocol, which began implementation in 2021, aims to keep the global average temperature increase well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. It recognizes that this would significantly reduce the risks and effects of climate change. The agreement states that this should be achieved by reducing GHG emissions as soon as possible. It also proposes to enhance the ability to implement mitigation, adaptation and resilience measures to climate change and to generate financial flows to achieve emissions reduction and climate change resilience. This Agreement has been signed by 96 countries (including Chile) and the European Union and meets the condition to enter into force as it has been ratified by more than 55 parties which account for over 55% of global GHG emissions. Although in 2017, President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, citing campaign promises in favor of the nation’s economic interests, all other countries around the world reiterated their commitment and communicated that they would not withdraw from the agreement even if the United States did so. Thankfully, the current President of the United States, Joe Biden, has signed executive orders to rejoin the Paris Agreement. This decade (2020-2030) will be decisive in avoiding a point of no return and maintaining habitable conditions on the planet for present and future