ENVIRONMENT FOCUS: The Battle of Copenhagen starts

On December 7, 2009, world leaders will gather in Copenhagen, Denmark, to respond to one of the greatest challenges facing humanity - climate change. The Danish capital hosts the 15th Conference of the Parties, or simply abbreviated as COP 15. Unlike poverty which is geographically restricted to the southern hemisphere, global warming is felt everywhere, and has no respect even for the rich who are its major perpetrators anyway.

What is fact and not science fiction, and perceived in all latitudes as the deleterious impacts of climate change, has resulted from human-induced global warming.The doubting-Thomases now constitute an infinitesimal and silent minority. In a commentary relevant to climate change, Thor Heyerdahl, the famous Norwegian explorer and scientist argues, “The more we move ourselves from nature, the more complicated our existence becomes.”

In the run-up to Copenhagen we have witnessed a plethora of workshops and talkshops, programmes and campaigns, official submissions, discussion and position papers, theses and themes, with a copious sprinkling of all manner and shades of opinion by both wise and foolish women and men. The guns and ammunition are now positioned, ready for a battle between the haves and the have-nots, the North versus the South, David against Goliath, the rich pitched against the poor. The likely result will be an armistice of sorts – soldiers from the conference of the warring parties running away, returning home for Christmas, to live and fight another day, in a new year. No victors, no vanquished?

There has never been an international conference on any global issue at which the rich have admitted guilt, agreed to substantial reparatory concessions to the poor, and followed rhetoric by keeping their word. Very often the arrogance of wealth encourages the North to be referee,

player, linesman and match commissioner moulded into one, leaving the South screaming in disbelief. The poor will return from Denmark with the usual promises of development assistance money, a few pats on the back, and with excess baggage of voluminous conference reports running into thousands of pages to add to products from spending in Copenhagen’s shopping centre.

The rich as roadblock

This week, serious-minded climate change strategists, stragglers and hangers-on, from different state and non-governmental institutions are gathering in Bangkok, Thailand, in a two-week session of UN-led climate talks. Already, the first salvo was fired by the UN climate chief, Yvo de Boer, in a statement to the effect that rich nations remain a roadblock. According to Reuters, he said that developing nations have shown “very constructive engagement” in designing parts of a new agreement covering steps to curb emissions, adaptation, technology and a UN carbon credit scheme that rewards preservation of forests.

Funding to help poor nations cope with the negative impacts of climate change will certainly be at the nucleus of negotiations in Copenhagen. Expectedly, no new climate pact to succeed Kyoto will be sealed without firm commitments on the size of a funding pool from the rich nations, and how these funds will be managed.