Is There Climate Change After Hopenhagen?
There is a tendency at every important but difficult
crossroad to pretend that it’s not really there.
– Bill McKibben
As I headed home from Copenhagen, I wondered what had been accomplished? Was it worth the collective carbon footprint of all of us that traveled to this historic climate change conference? The agreements that have been reached will not meet the targets necessary to stop catastrophic impacts on all life. The NGOs representing the voices of the poorest nations, who have been most impacted by climate change, were shut out in the final days of negotiations. The wealthy industrialized nations are pretending to deal with climate change by invoking carbon-trading schemes, which gloss over the real issues and are little more than new ways to make money and continue polluting. As Yogi Bera said “if we continue in the direction we’re going we’re liable to end up where we’re headed.”
It’s often too late by the time governments act.
– Vandana Shiva
I shudder to think what future generations will say about us as the impacts of climate change grow increasingly towards final tipping points. We are already seeing the signs as scientists have determined that the Greenland ice shelf cannot be saved. How will succeeding generations cope as food and water run out in the densest of populations and the term “environmental refugees” becomes a household word? Humankind is on the brink of global catastrophe and only a miracle can change the current direction. Time is running out! Just because we deny a problem, doesn't make it go away. Coal, gas, oil and dependent industries continue to promote temporary financial gain at the expense of our very survival. We have all seen the effectiveness of well-financed misinformation campaigns that allow many people to rationalize a false sense of security - while every day a billion children go hungry. Something is rotten in Denmark!
Images that stand out for me in the past two weeks:
• Fifty 5 and 6 year olds with shiny faces and unbounded exuberance filing through Klimaforum09 (the people’s forum) hand in hand, just after we heard that the NGOs had been thrown out of the Bella Center. I burst into tears knowing that they are the ones who will have to deal with the mess we are leaving behind.•The people who had been fasting for over 40 days to draw attention to climate change and the 10s of thousands who joined them in solidarity the final days of the conference.
• People waiting for 8-10 hour in the freezing cold and snow trying to get into the conference to have their voices heard.
• Bloody protestors fearful for the future of the planet and their own survival, frustrated that the system had let them down, being brutally beaten by police in riot gear.
• The people outside the empty Bella Center in the final days having their hair shaved off. One young woman with her head being shaved, holding a blank sign with quotation marks on a blank page. “There are no words for this,” she said.
•The empty halls of a once robust gathering at the Bella Center after the civil society groups were removed from negotiations.
It is easy to be depressed by the seeming impasse that we faced at the end of the conference. Even though we knew that it was a high mountain to climb and that we probably wouldn’t get an agreement that would meet the necessary targets and commitments to make a real difference. But, most of us came with hope that the magnitude of the stakes would inspire our representatives to take real action. We wanted to see Obama and America take a lead and go beyond the rhetoric and fancy speeches and make a bold and real commitment that would show leadership. Alas this was not the case. But, what was accomplished?
Earth provides enough to satisfy man’s need, but not any man’s greed.
– Mahatma Gandhi
The Successes of the Copenhagen Conference
It is hard to get a large group of people with diverse opinions to come to an agreement around a controversial issue. But, come together they did and for the first time it validated what climatologists have been telling us for over 20 years. The issue is real, imminent and not going away. Some of the successes that I saw were:
• The largest gathering of world leaders in all history with 119 heads of state meeting over concern about climate change.
• There was a coalescing of the largest global people’s movement in history.
• Emergence of a Global Youth Movement that is smart, vital, understands the issues and has ideas of how to mobilize large groups of people through technology and innovation.
• The awakening of the Global public to the reality of the issue in the face of the climate denial industry’s outpouring of misinformation, propaganda and confusion.
• The clear establishment of targets that most scientists say we need to attain in order to avert disastrous consequences of climate change.
• While it is not legally binding and the targets are short of what is needed, the conference did sign a political agreement to cap temperature rise to 2 degrees, reduce emissions and raise finance money for developing nations.
• Because the pledges listed by the parties may, according to science, be found insufficient to keep the global temperature rise below 2 degrees or less, leaders called for a review of the accord which would include a consideration of the long-term goal to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.
• In short it is a long way to go, but it’s a start…
So I return to the US with a renewed commitment to do whatever I can to address this issue, an unshakable faith in humankind to rise to the occasion and a deep love for humanity and this beautiful planet. If I were the last voice of hope in the world I would know that hope is alive. But, I know that I am not alone. I pray that everyone who reads this will look closely and deeply to discover what role they will play in this great challenge. In the end it is really not such a difficult issue to solve. We need to stop cutting down the trees and quit drilling for fossil fuel. We can do this if we focus our attention and energy on the greatest threat and opportunity ever presented to humanity! It is in essence a journey from fear to love, from separation to co-creation, and from being above nature to recognizing that we are an integral part of nature, with the power to change our suicidal course.
With great blessings to all life in the coming year and generations to come,
michael
What actually makes people happy is full engagement.
You are most alive when working at the limit of your abilities.
Bill McKibben
