Monday, October 4, 2010

CLIMATE CHANGE - TINJIANG TO CANCUN

Copenhagen summit on climate change December 2009, as everyone knows was a historic failure. 193 nations from around the world met, debated and deliberated upon finding a solution to alleviate the mounting menace of global warming. The summit held at the instance of UN Framework for Convention on Climate Change though lasted for nearly two weeks ended in a 'catastrophe'. To find a way out of a catastrophe which is real, horrible and alarming ended in a 'catastrophe of sorts' makes amusing reading. But that was the fact nothing but the fact. A face-saving device won't wash but that was what transpired at Copenhagen in 2008. The developed countries like US - the biggest contributor of green-house gas emissions and other such nations adopted a rigid stand and besides that insisted binding deals on the part of developing and least developed nations whose contribution of green-house gas emissions compared to the developed nations was negligible. And if Barack Obama, US President had adopted an inflexible stand that was to a certain extent due to the internal pressure mounting upon him mainly by the Grand Old Party (GoP), the Republican Party.
Republican Party then and now stood/stand by its concerns for vested interests - the industrial and business tycoons, in short the market friendly forces. Future never a concern to them and they know for certain that the growing GHG emissions are mainly going to affect the developing and least developed nations. The arrogant self-deception is the result of mistaken notions and when the chips are down their progenies - Generation X - will be like any sufferer be it American, Britain, Chinese or Indian. The momentary gratification drives them to tread suicidal paths, let's wait and see. Obama's hands are tied-up and inspite of his tall talks, ie. the decision to take on GoP pertaining to introducing reforms he is very well aware that it would be a tedious task to surmount the obstacles lying ahead. The one point agenda of GoP being block the former's each reform measure. And in November elections to the Senate are scheduled to be held and going by the turn of events Democratic Party is facing a certain defeat.
Back to Climate change.
Today Oct 4, in the Port city of Tinjiang, China in the run-up to the November 29 Cancun summit in Mexico, negotiators across 190 nations are going to assemble and deliberate upon the steps to be adopted at Cancun Summit. The Timjiang summit will last for six days ie. from today to Oct 9. China has however committed to reduce emissions by 40 percent by the year 2020.
Neither developing countries like China, India, Brazil and South Africa, nor the developed nations like US, Britain and France are going to make any climb-down from their respective positions and hence nothing substantial is likely to emerge.
The main culprits on the matter of GHG emissions especially nearly 60 percent contribution of GHG emissions being the US, it ought to be in the vanguard of fighting the menace, thus reducing to the minimum. US puts the onus on developing nations with regard to the matter of cutting down the emissions. Add to this, it tries to impose binding deals - Reporting, Measurement and Verification over the developing nations and least developed nations. US has however hesitatingly decided to cutting down the emissions, a negligible percent though. Nothing more could be expected from a nation which at theCopenhagen Summit 2008 unilaterally did away with Kyoto protocol, Tokyo held in 1997. Anyhow a 70-page text is going to be prepared by two groups gathered at Tinjiang for the purpose of submitting it in the Cancun conference beginning on Nov 29.
Developing countries in the course of Tinjiang meeting will certainly demand financial assistance to reduce GHG emissions citing economic growth, the upliftment of the downtrodden nagging them and that much pathetic are the conditions of the poor people. In addition to financial assistance, one more important thing they are going to demand is technological assistance that also for reducing emissions.
Those demands were already made by these nations, but all of them were turned dwon. The reason being Global meltdown and this time also citing the global recession rampant especially across European nations and still the intensity of the economic meltdown lessened though partly in US the developed countries are expected to turn down the demands of developing and least developed nations. Across Europe turmoil is visible and each nation wriggle out of the ditch which was their own making, austerity measures are taken and along with it protests, anger and strikes continue to pose threats. Spain, one of the European nations witnessed a nation-wide strike after a lapse of seven years. France, on Oct 12 is going to face a nation-wide strike. Citing reasons aplenty these countries could very well find pretexts to escape committments of financial and technological assistance and we would be a bit fortunate if they didn't ask for our assistance. Then why this Tinjiang meet and Cancun summit in November. Nothing fruitful expected to result about which almost all nations are sure about still all are getting prepared for the grand shadow-boxing.

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