Today I decided to write about a climate change conference coming up in just a few weeks in Europe. In my spare time from being a realtor in Toronto, I enjoy contemplating and reading up on world affairs. Climate progression is one particular area that interests me.
The start of December observes the United Nations Climate Change Conference being accommodated in the town of Copenhagen, Denmark. Climate Change mitigation is an grave issue to be raised by individuals attending the conference. Whilst this issue is on the table, it certainly isn’t the only item up for analysis. Views are from one extreme to another.
When Barack Obama became president, many activists hoped for a new age in climate change mitigation. What people are wanting to be told is how can we move this issue forward. The shrinkage of greenhouse gases was the primary feature of the Kyoto protocol and the basis of these types of conferences, but no more.
It has been over 10 years since the emission rates were decided in this treaty and they now need to be looked at again. By the year 2020 its is desired that GHG emissions will be minimized by 20% based on the 2005 figures. The Kyoto protocol called for a 5% reduction on the 1990 levels so the new rates are drastically higher. This lax stance toward the minimization schedule is being heavily chastised by some activists – as the mild conditions of Kyoto will effectively be loosened even further.
There is another area of discord that this problem is linked to. Big polluters such as South Africa and Brazil could see it’s economy remain virtually untouched, but the North could see a large impact. The South collectively believes it’s in the right, because the North owes them a lot – southern countries are much more affected by climate change than those in the North. Even though some lobbyists don’t agree, it is understood that developing countries will generate higher emissions to start off with, but countries like Brazil are very unwilling to make sacrifices when there is an economic problem.
The movement for anti-climate change has another sensitive problem in relation to the emissions trade. Those against change see opportunities arising for scams and the black market, but supporters who are mainly government officials, believe that market rules could offset any negative economic blows the restrictions could have. They request deep changes to economic and social structures (greater power and control in hands of local communities), in order to avoid climatic disaster.
If your searching for open-minded decisions, then you likely to be disappointed with any agreements made in Denmark. Having said all that, probably, the most important thing to come out of it all is the lobbyists are now getting together to try and make some advances. This means that there are more and more voices asking for a way forward this year, and that can only be a great thing.
