Written By: Kelly Opdycke(Editor, KO Zine)
This week a number of world leaders gather in Denmark to for the 15th annual United Nations Conference on Climate Change. Representatives from 192 countries will be in attendance, including President Barack Obama, who recently reversed his decision to skip the summit in response to India and China’s new commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions.
Copenhagen’s progressive green policies seemingly make the city a perfect host of the summit. Denmark was one of the first nations to be gung-ho on wind power, with 20% of the country’s energy furnished by wind. And despite the fact that the Danes produce the most pound-per-pound trash per capita (a major embarrassment to this European nation), only 5% of this waste ends up in landfills, compared with 54% of waste in the United States.
The summit’s main goal is to create an agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol. The draft agreement is currently at 176 pages and needs to be whittled down to a few pages by Dec. 15, when the high level debate is set to start. All debating, pleading and arm-twisting are to be finished on Dec. 19.
With the UK Met Office recently reporting that the last 10 years have been the warmest on record and the EPA warning that global warming endangers public health earlier this week, the need for this summit is obvious.
In the end will be an agreement on emission cuts and finance, as well as alliances on how to set up carbon markets, technology and forestry deals.
All of this is great, but one problem exists: none of it matters. These are non-legally binding agreements. Arguments will be had, agreements will be made, but in the end little will probably be done.
As an anonymous source told the Guardian, “This is profound decision-making. We are trying to affect a revolution. We do not know where this will end up.”
Maybe me and Ms./Mr. Anonymous are wrong. Maybe this conference will be the one that changes everything. I seriously hope so.
But I doubt it.
More Info:
L.A. Times
The Guardian (UK) #1
The Guardian (UK) #2
Common Dreams
