“The world is in climate chaos,” says rock singer Charlie Alberti, the newly appointed United Nations Environment Programme ambassador for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The 61-year-old Alberti said he wanted to “invigorate people” out of a sense of responsibility at what is a “very complicated time” for the planet.
The drummer from Soda Stereo, the legendary Argentine rock band that reached its peak in the 1980s, believes that “art in all its forms has the power to move the world and inspire much-needed change.”
Announcing the appointment during a high-energy week for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen highlighted Alberti’s “passion for the environment and his ability to connect with people through music make him a powerful advocate for environmental causes.”
Musicians will have to raise awareness, especially among young people, about the need to urgently address the triple global crisis caused by climate change: loss of nature and biodiversity, local pollution and waste.
Alberti is a longtime environmental activist whose charitable foundation, Revolución 21 – Latinoamérica Sustentable (Revolution 21 for a Sustainable Latin America), is already working on environmental issues in Argentina and Latin America.
Rock bands are also taking action: Soda Stereo planted 4,700 native trees to offset the carbon footprint of its 2020 “Gracias Totales” tour, the first of its kind for a major music tour in Latin America.
In an interview, Alberti asserted that after his appointment, people would have to discard the widely repeated excuse that “nothing I personally do will make any difference.”
“There are more than 8 billion people in the world who think the same way. If I don’t act, nothing will change. But the sum of their actions creates a catastrophe,” he pointed out.
That’s why Alberti argues that “small changes” ultimately create “big positive change.”
“The world you leave for your children is up to you,” he says.
According to the musician, “it is vital that we continue to develop, but this can be done within the context of a sustainable world.”
“The economy is not more important than the environment. Without the environment, without biodiversity, there is no economy,” said Alberti, pointing out that “we are all the problem and we are all, individually, the solution.”
“Companies are accountable to our demands. After all, if we keep buying poor quality products, companies will keep making them. But if people demand better quality, more responsible products, companies will comply,” he argued.
“You are the problem and you are the solution,” the Buenos Aires-born activist warned.
Alberti, a former goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Argentina, believes it is “very important” for citizens to put pressure on companies and governments for change.
He said there is change there.
Ana Fernández, AFP
