Hopes for an agreement in Copenhagen hang in the balance
Friday, 18 September 2009
HOPES for an agreement being reached at the United Nations' summit in December, "hang in the balance," because of a climate of suspicion between rich and poor countries. Nations will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark to attempt to strike a pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol which bound 37 industrial countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 per cent of 1990 levels by 2012.
The complexity of negotiations and disputes between industrialised and developing nations over cuts to emissions, threatens to scupper a deal. The deal the world needs in Copenhagen is now in the balance. There is a real danger the talks scheduled for December will not reach a positive outcome, and an equal danger in the run-up to Copenhagen that people don't wake up to the danger of failure until it's too late.
The Kyoto accord placed no obligations on developing countries, but now industrialised nations want countries including India and China, seen by many as the world's largest polluter, to agree to stall, and eventually cut, their emissions. There can be no longer any debate on the need to act because it has been established that climate change is an unequivocal reality beyond scientific doubt. Increase in temperature, rise in sea water level, changes in monsoon rainfall pattern etc., are some of the adverse impacts already experienced due to climate change. Changes were also taking place in precipitation patterns with a trend towards higher precipitation levels in the world's upper latitudes and lower precipitation in some subtropical and tropical regions and in the Mediterranean sea.
Experts have already warned that one could expect more heat waves, floods and droughts. There would be change in the pattern of rainfall, adding that the Artic region has been warming at twice the rate of the rest of the globe. Unless we limit the emission of greenhouse gases that restricts the future temperature increase, 20 to 30% of living species will be under threat.
Gopal Sengupta,
Canada
e-mail: gopalsengupta@aol.com
The complexity of negotiations and disputes between industrialised and developing nations over cuts to emissions, threatens to scupper a deal. The deal the world needs in Copenhagen is now in the balance. There is a real danger the talks scheduled for December will not reach a positive outcome, and an equal danger in the run-up to Copenhagen that people don't wake up to the danger of failure until it's too late.
The Kyoto accord placed no obligations on developing countries, but now industrialised nations want countries including India and China, seen by many as the world's largest polluter, to agree to stall, and eventually cut, their emissions. There can be no longer any debate on the need to act because it has been established that climate change is an unequivocal reality beyond scientific doubt. Increase in temperature, rise in sea water level, changes in monsoon rainfall pattern etc., are some of the adverse impacts already experienced due to climate change. Changes were also taking place in precipitation patterns with a trend towards higher precipitation levels in the world's upper latitudes and lower precipitation in some subtropical and tropical regions and in the Mediterranean sea.
Experts have already warned that one could expect more heat waves, floods and droughts. There would be change in the pattern of rainfall, adding that the Artic region has been warming at twice the rate of the rest of the globe. Unless we limit the emission of greenhouse gases that restricts the future temperature increase, 20 to 30% of living species will be under threat.
Gopal Sengupta,
Canada
e-mail: gopalsengupta@aol.com