By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice
The countdown is on to COP 15 – the 15th meeting of the parties of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from Dec 7-18.
Prime Minister, Hon. Patrick Manning, rightly reminded youths present at the recent Mock CHOGM that climate change is much more than an academic issue. “It is not that some people are trying to make life difficult for the developmental aspirations of others, but it has to do with the configuration of the entire globe in years to come, who is going to survive and who is not going to.”
It is estimated that 15,000 “officials, advisers, diplomats, campaigners and media personnel” from 200 countries will gather in Copenhagen to try to arrive at a legally binding deal that will seek to replace the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012. But are we any closer to committing ourselves to halt/slow down global warming?
Many fear that the outcome of Copenhagen will be only a framework agreement, instead of a legally binding deal. If so, will such a framework include principles laid out in previous deals? And would all parties be committed to finalise such a framework agreement at the next meeting in Mexico City in December 2010?
Morten Andersen’s recent report (http://en.cop15.dk/news) states: “Australian PM warns of fossil conspiracy. PM Kevin Rudd says that the upcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen are threatened by a conglomerate of opponents ‘driven by vested interests’ aiming ‘to erode just enough political will that action becomes impossible.’”
Richard Ingham reports (http://news.theage.com.au) that after the recent meeting of European Union negotiators in Barcelona: “Green groups and activists for the developing world accused rich nations of tiptoeing away from vows to seal a binding, far-reaching UN treaty on climate change in Copenhagen next month…Environmentalists are worried that…the tough compliance provisions of the UNFCCC’s Kyoto Protocol…will be ditched in favour of a voluntary approach to accommodate the United States…Greenpeace climate policy director Martin Kaiser said US ‘intransigence (is) threatening to kill the prospect of a legally binding Copenhagen treaty. What’s unfolding today is being driven by America, which in turn is being steered by big fossil-fuel interests.’”
Which countries are prepared to cut CO2 emissions – and by how much? Minister Mariano Browne acknowledged on a programme on CNMG recently that although T&T’s total contribution to CO2 emissions is less than 1% (35.51 tonnes), our current per capita CO2 ranking in the world is 5th. If you have some time, read Stacey M Thomas’ paper entitled: Impacts of economic growth on CO2 emissions: www.isocarp.net/Data/case_studies/1598.pdf .
Her paper seeks “to investigate the drivers behind these high carbon emissions and discuss the potential strategies that can be adopted to balance economic growth, while reducing the country’s carbon footprint.”
She says that: “The relationship between economic growth and rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is the chicken or the egg question of the climate change debate. A growth in industry, and hence emissions, will no doubt stimulate a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Conversely, a higher GDP will often lead to a greater disposable income and higher standards of living, which could manifest in more cars, more residential energy use and more consumption, all of which will impact on a country’s total emissions. …T&T has managed to increase its carbon footprint by 79% from 1990 to 2007; as GDP has grown, so has the carbon intensity of the economy…If Trinidad’s population was a large as that of America or China it would easily surpass their total CO2 emissions. Trinidad therefore cannot continue to hide behind the guise of non Annex I countries as a reason for inaction; it is part of the problem and must be part of the solution…The natural environment must be better protected and principles of sustainability incorporated into economic growth. Instead of being daunted by the scale of this challenge, policymakers must recognize the scale of the opportunity…”
In his Encyclical, Charity in Truth (2009), Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that: “…the subject of development is also closely related to the duties arising from our relationship to the natural environment… When nature, including the human being, is viewed as the result of mere chance or evolution nary determinism, our sense of responsibility wanes. In nature, the believer recognizes the wonderful result of God’s creative activity, which we may use responsibly to satisfy our legitimate needs, material or otherwise, while respecting the intrinsic balance of creation. If this vision is lost, we end up either considering nature an untouchable taboo or, on the contrary, abusing it. Neither attitude is consonant with the Christian vision of nature as the fruit of God’s creation.”(48)
Let us embrace the Christian vision of nature.
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