The Copenhagen climate conference failed in preparing the future of the Kyoto Protocol. This is even more enraging as at first positive signs kept on piling : the United States and many developing nations proclamed they would act.
I saw it coming as still too many are elected representatives around the world that don’t understand the benefits a strong climate change accord could bring us all in terms of employment and sustainable energy.
I won’t point fingers at any particular country or group of countries as I believe this is a collective failure. In today’s post you will find a selection of links on this event.
The WWF noted : ” The UN climate talks in Copenhagen were inches away from total failure and ended with an outcome far too weak to tackle dangerous climate change. “
The Associated Press provides us with a great series of graphs about many countries emissions trends, pledges and so on.
The US work at the COP15 is regarded differently from China or Brazil.
Tom Friedman from the New York Times published an interesting article where he pledges for a clean tech arms race. I couldn’t agree more.
However, all hope has not gone away as our representatives will meet again in December 2010 in Mexico. Meanwhile, we can act all around the world and in all sorts of ways.
I would like to conclude that according to the meter I installed before the conference: the temperature is due to increase more than before the conference. This means we pledged to LESS action than what was first agreed to.
Here are some other views I collected over the weekend :
- Mother Jones : Obama’s Copenhagen Deal ;
- Council on foreign relation : Examining the Copenhagen Accord ;
- The Huffington Post :They Didn’t Seal the Deal; They Sealed the Coffin ;
- The Independant : Copenhagen – Historic failure that will live in infamy.
I realise that you hoped for something better, we all did. But did you expect something better?
As I noted in the story of Cuba,
People are naturally conservative, that is reluctant to change, but will change when it’s necessary to their survival. If given the chance, they’ll try to go back to the old way of doing things, mixed in somewhat with the new ways.
Governments, insulated from day-to-day reality of common life, are more conservative still, but like the people will change when it’s necessary to their survival. Governments will at first get in the way, later get out of the way, and finally help and then claim it was their idea all along, If given the chance, they’ll try to go back entirely to the old way of doing things as soon as possible.
If we wish to make ourselves change, we must make ourselves realise it’s necessary to our survival. If we wish to have our governments effect change, we must make change necessary to our governments’ survival.
Well, indeed I hoped we would reach something much better than this.
Expect ? Well, I at least expected some progress, not much, but at least a real step in the good direction.
Luckily some governments are acknowledging we got to move fast and big. Cf. my next post on the United Kingdom. God saves the Queen 😉
Pingback: Are we intelligent enough to prevent climate change ? :: Sustainable development and much more
Pingback: Cancun meeting ends with mixed results :: Sustainable development and much more