The Copenhagen meet to strike a deal on climate change is making headlines everyday now. Nothing seems as urgent as saving the world. It is imperative for every country to bind itself to emission cuts for consequences of the denial can be catastrophic. We have the obligation and opportunity to be the generation which retrieves earth back from the mess our great grandfathers ( read previous generation Americans, as they are fondly called) have left it in. That is how it is all projected to us and that is how we understand it. Global warming demands immediate action and there is no doubt over the fate of earth if we choose to be delinquent. Yet, one wonders the righteousness of our approach towards the problem. Our measures, to whatever meager sum they amount to, still need to be examined if they are the steps in right direction, and more importantly, with right intentions.
While no one questions the enormity of the problem and the sentiments are strongly in favor of taking stringent actions, there are some very interesting viewpoints and assessments that deserve wider analysis. An Editorial in TOI dated a few days back tried to elucidate why and how the 'Global warming' debate has been blown out of proportion; why this entire movement seems like a huge setup to shift the economic balance of power which now seems to tilt in favor of new emerging economies. Of course, such arguments may sound unnecessary and maybe ignored on account of routine journalism to present counter views. Articles like these which denounce our over cautious standpoint is susceptible to plentiful criticism not just from environmentalists, but even from other factions. Debates like these should leave adequate scope for different opinions, but such adamant advocacy and strong resentment towards a counter opinion raises suspicions of a foul play. Human sentiments have steered the history and have shaped the world we see today. This is what seems to be happening again. By aligning the public opinion around the globe, industrialized nations seek their own revival through climate change. Global warming, besides being a "huge problem", is a necessity, a tacit strategy for their return in a world that is inclining towards the emerging powers. They need to stage a comeback, and global warming promises just that.
The dissidents do not claim it is entirely facade. There have been too many experiments around the world at different times with adequate conformity to reject it as a ploy. What is questionable is the intention and understanding in the global community. The problem is serious, but it hardly gives the impression that the solution seekers are not interested in benefiting from it, even at the cost of others. Europe, US, Japan and others who constitute the developed world have been pushed to a backseat as the emerging economies like ours are spreading their influence. The growth rate for these economies have plunged down to near zero, and for some, even below that. This recession has showed that such economies are now much more vulnerable to downturns while emerging markets like India and China have grown better tolerance. In these circumstances, green industry which holds the potential to turn around the fortunes of the wrecked, rest completely on our sense of urgency. With available technology and capital, developed nations have an edge in starting out in the industry that promise to overtake all others in scope and size. Countries like China and India will be forced to slow down while the developed nations accelerate right back on path of growth .And this is the reason why these countries are so unwilling to share technology and capital and why they want to burden us with unreal responsibilities after polluting earth for over two centuries. The wheels of capitalism are in motion again, as some prepare to save themselves, even if it comes at the price of drowning others.
The Copenhagen meet is at a verge of a breakdown. Developed nations haven't moved an inch on their propositions. Developing nation, quoting an English daily, "have pulled the emergency chain before the train collides with an unbreakable wall". In a sense this is good. A bad solution is worse than no solution. Unless developed world realize the true magnitude of the problem and desist itself from the greed which has left us in this turmoil, we shall remain incapable and foolish as ever to save our own selves. I neither side the hardliners, nor the critics and cogently realize the weight of the problem that looms over us. But illogical decisions based on wavering human emotions can do humanity no good. History will approve as it has seen the fall of some of the greatest civilizations when greed corrupted their values. We have over exploited the little planet, to the extent that it can undo all our evolution in matter of years, something which it is completely capable of. There is a bigger challenge than the climate change today, and that is to face ourselves and ask - Are we ready to change ? Do we accept our mistake ? Can we give up our selfishness and greed? At this point, the answer doesn't seem affirmative, and unless it is, we can't expect a solution. Copenhagen will subside in history as one of the biggest failures of the mankind. Not where humanity failed to delineate a sensible political draft, but one where it failed to confront itself with dignity and prudence.
