UN delegate comments on climate change not inspiring or surprising
ByIf we are looking to the United Nations to lead the way toward serious reform in terms of climate change we really need to hear a more cohesive message from them. Costan Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres made comments that have echoed the concern many already held about progress being seriously impeded by international disagreement coupled with economic factors that slow the needed changes. Said Figueres when addressing the UN Climate Conference in Bonn last week:
“I do not believe we will ever have a final agreement on climate change, certainly not in my lifetime, if we ever have a final, conclusive, all-answering agreement, then we will have solved this problem. I don’t think that’s on the cards. True success will require the sustained effort of those who will be here for the next 20, 30, 40 years”
Figeures’ comments are being trumpeted due to her long dedication to fighting global warming which sees her elevated next month to executive secretary of the UN’s climate change secretariat, positioned in the former west German capital. While I think her comments mirror the deepest worries that many share there is some shock that she really attacked the status quo of the UN so directly as she did. In recent years the disagreements at UN meetings coupled with the lingering repercussions of the initial failing of the Kyoto agreement have raised the stakes and the awareness that progress is stuttering and not as harmonious as we’d like to see. Even as the expectations grew the global economic crisis has seen more and more nations stating they were hamstrung financially to the point where reforms needed would have to be put on hold.
2010 has arrived with the shine of economies beginning to improve being quickly overshadowed by spending cuts that see all but the most vital services limited in budget, most noticeably in Europe. To my eyes ‘most vital’ should include climate change issues but the reality is governments are forced to choose and invest in what they or their electorate see as more pressing matters such as housing, schooling, jobs and immigration.
Similar priority spending has seen bills put on the back burner in the US even in contrast to campaign promises. It’s truly a situation that is being hampered by multiple factors more than ever at arguably the most critical time yet. At the same time 2007 UN Climate Change reports are picked through in detail seeking flaws in the data and consensus. Inevitably debates have ensued which have led to cyncisism disputing the value of the UN reports on the whole. 2,500 page reports are ripped up by some when they locate any specific information that is still in dispute by scientists, which seems to suggest an agenda is at play in my opinion.
Climate talks have recently fallen upon the rocks of ‘disputed evidence’ rather than being driven forward by the consensus of needed response. Of course its political but it seems that the time for action might be derailed by the incessant need to be seen as ‘being right’. In what would be the ultimate hedge betting some seem determined to discuount global warming to the point where it would be too late to say ‘we were wrong’.
Given all of these factors, even some of the strongest advocates of a climate treaty have seemed to start doubting. Speculation that a treaty could be drawn up at the next meeting, this December in Mexico – are perhaps mistaken with the unfortunate expectation that a year delay to the end of 2011 is more realistic. It seems unreal that we are moving forward while still being in limbo internationally when it comes to climate control and I hope the history books show my alarm was misplaced. If we keep waiting for the ‘perfect moment’ to agree on how best to tackle climate control will that time ever truly arrive?
