Durban: Will Anything Happen?

The Climate Change Conference began today at Durban, South Africa. After the inconclusive and borderline divisive conference last year in Cancún, Mexico, expectations are low this year. Will 194 countries resurrect the Kyoto Protocol and get something done without the pressure put on Copenhagen and Cancún?

The same old problems reappear on this year’s agenda. How do we balance the demands of developing countries with the wishes of developed countries? Who will develop and pay for the clean and efficient technology so long promised? What sort of legislation is appropriate for this situation? What are reasonable environmental goals and expectations?

The issue of climate change is, unsurprisingly, continuously changing. Thus I do not believe in aged and hackneyed treaties such as Kyoto. The protocol has wasted much time and not led to much progress; the countries who refuse to join overpower the meager savings of the signatories. It’s not tomorrow that the United States or China will agree to it. Even the agreements reached a few years beforehand may not be so appropriate anymore, given shifting socio-economic, political and global conditions. How can we make progress in this situation?

First, the conference must establish good faith in a common goal, the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions, the main cause of climate change. How can we make progress while some do not even believe climate change is anthropogenic? No country, no matter how small, must be ignored in this quest for the common good of humanity. The fixation of this anchor would already be a major achievement, because it strengthens the wavering legitimacy of the conferences and the organization.

The next step is to agree on methods to deal with global emissions. Of course, political considerations will inevitably come into play when technology and funding are discussed. A fund bank must be created to circumvent political tie-ups between countries negotiating face-to-face. These funds should then be allotted to previously selected projects, such as increasing the availability of solar panels in Chile. The selection process will occur like the selection of the next country to host the Olympics or the World Cup. This system is flawed by nature and is open to corruption, but whatever country to receive funding will most likely be able to reduce their emissions effectively and benefit the world anyhow.

Most of this will not happen and will possibly never happen. Hopefully, people will realize the severity of our predicament and get their minds set straight about changing climate change. The natural disasters hitting periodically around the globe are nothing to scoff at.