“I know poor people and indigenous people worldwide are dying because of climate-induced hunger, water shortage, floods, droughts…but I cannot cut my carbon emissions further or give up my political future/profit to save you all, I just can’t.”
Ha ha! Of course developed countries’ political leaders, fossil fuel industries and sectors reliant on them didn’t say it to anyone’s face that plainly, but that’s what they’re essentially doing, isn’t it?
Greenpeace activists gatecrashed a royal bash for the UN climate summit in Copenhagen yesterday night.
I know for a fact that these negotiations are extremely complicated, it’s linked to economy, national security, bla bla bla…That’s why it’s taken so long (since 1992), and some argued that we’ve made some progress, albeit a little slow.
But the thing is, we all – political leaders, negotiators, businesses, civil societies – also know that we don’t have much time left. Science demands that we act now. I feel like a broken radio for repeating this time and again, but hello, the clock is ticking faster than ever. If emissions don’t peak by around 2015 and start falling immediately thereafter, we’re doomed to more than 2 degree rise, which means more than 3 degree rise in Africa and small island states are definitely sinking.
The civil societies have already woken up and made their voices heard, the developing countries are also moving fast to ensure that they can develop sustainably (not making the same mistakes that the industrialized nations did when developing and causing others to suffer in the process), but yet the international media are blaming developing countries particularly China and India for stalling the talks.
Who is slowing who down now? Let’s face it, the developed countries have used up more than their share of the Earth’s resources and atmospheric space so that they can live comfortably now (at least most of them are), what more do they want?
The fossil fuel industries and sectors dependent on them, as well as those waiting to earn billions from the carbon market. Is it really too much to ask them to put humanity’s survival before profit? Looking at what’s at stakes, who are the unreasonable ones here?
As a middle class youth living in a developing country, I sometimes, nope, often felt guilty for the privileges I enjoyed: sufficient food, clean water, education, health… I wonder if the political leaders and corporates who want to continue with business-as-usual feel the same.
I really don’t understand. If growing up and being a sophisticated adult means I’m going to ignore others’ right to survival; if being rich and powerful means I’ll trample on my fellow human beings’ and Mother Earth for my own convenience, I would rather remain a “simple-minded” youth, who just hope everyone on Earth enjoy similar rights (to survival; free from all discrimination and injustices) and share the Earth’s resources fairly, a world where peoples’ interests and the principles of justice and equity are put before profit and self-interests.
I was taking a bus a few days ago, and there was a baby onboard; I was at a vigil yesterday night, and there was a toddle wandering around looking at the candles curiously…Time stood still as I looked at them, rare moments of peace amidst the frantic pace of the conference.
Deal or no deal, the climate movement will continue to work tirelessly to change the tide, but we need our political leaders and businesses to join us at this critical moment. History will judge us, but wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of condemning our generation, the history books in 2050 read:
“The world came together at COP15 in 2009. Developed countries commit to ambitious cuts under the existing Kyoto Protocol while providing the much-needed finance for adaptation and mitigation in developing countries under a new Copenhagen agreement. Developing countries also took voluntary cuts to ensure that the world return to 350ppm as soon as possible to avert runaway climate change. It was truly a historic and shining moment for humanity.”
Okay, enough dreaming, time to return to reality.
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