A UN panel of scientists have come out with its latest reports on climate change presenting a bleak vision even prompting the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to challenge governments to join hands against climate change. This report comes ahead of the crucial climate conference in Bali, Indonesia. The UN Secretary-General expects the world’s policy makers to take serious note on this warning and why not because it is after all a question of human survival. The report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change needs greater attention of governments in order to address the core concerns being highlighted—one of which is that if unchecked, global warming will spread hunger and disease, put further stress on water resources, cause fiercer storms and more frequent droughts, and could drive up to 70 percent of plant and animal species to extinction. Now that the scientists have done their findings, it will require meaningful participation of countries to take forward the initiative through a political process and to reach a common understanding on taking specific measures.
This may however be easier said than done given that the political debate over many current trans-boundary environmental problems is often heated and frustrating because the problems are very complicated and do not lend themselves to obvious country specific needs or solutions. Even in the past, the G 8—consisting of industrialized countries has fallen short of expectations on many counts. The stranglehold of the United States (as the only remaining superpower and leading economic powerhouse) on climate change politics look ominous by the manner in which it has rejected the call for setting specific targets and a timetable for reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Obtaining commitments to cut GHG emissions by specified levels is not going to come easy. Besides, the US, which appears not fully convinced, China and India have argued that any measures impinging on their development and efforts to lift their people from poverty were unacceptable.
Other alternatives will have to emerge to give the climate change talks a more realistic direction. The suggestions to provide funding to help poor countries develop clean energy resources, adapt to climate conditions and give them the technology to help themselves are some of the choices that must be brought to the talks table. Hopefully, the US, which till date has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, will take a more forward looking approach to address the concerns over climate change. The immediate challenge calls for breaking the deadlock on the main sticking points such as GHG reduction targets, emissions trading, implementation of GHG reducing activities and issues that are important to developing countries such as capacity building, transfer of technology and financial assistance, all yet to be resolved convincingly. Ever since the Kyoto Protocol the agenda on climate change were built on high expectation but with low result. This must be reversed and to do this will require getting the climate change agenda back on track and acting on the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
