It was heartbreaking to watch the final hours of COP 26. Robin Sears writes:
Whether you were appalled or simply resigned at the sight of India’s successful last minute power play to water down the commitment to phase out coal, it was high drama to watch it unfold. Minutes before the final concession, Reuters reported that China, India, the U.S. and the EU were huddling just off the floor. China pushed India to demand with them the “soft on coal” language, threatening not to sign the pact if they were refused.
These meetings always end the same way. Each time a breakthrough is in sight, one or two nations threaten to sabotage the whole meeting and a compromised in reached -- compromise that brngs us closer to the cliff:
There is no forum in the world like it. This is a decision-making body, made of up of nearly every nation on earth. The world has never succeeded at something this ambitious — and we have often failed. The League of Nations, collapsed; the UN, paralyzed by big power veto; the WTO, at risk of irrelevance.
At COP there is little hierarchy of power. The Maldives delegate, a powerful and impassioned campaigner, has the same access to the world’s attention as the U.S. It operates by consensus, so the major powers need to fight for Tuvalu’s support, not just that of their peers. Of course, there are side deals and hidden coalitions; everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others.
Foot draggers like Australia, China, India and Indonesia came under real political pressure inside and — more importantly — outside the hall. One could sense for the first time a sense of near panic about island nations’ survival, about extreme weather becoming more severe for everyone.
Watching John Kerry weave back and forth between groups, pleading for consensus; listening to the impassioned Africans telling the world of their climate suffering; witnessing the pain on the faces of the poorer nations’ delegates at the hard compromises they must swallow — you knew this was for real. As Kerry put it, very few public officials get to make decisions of this magnitude, choices about the very fate of the world.
Getting the countries of the world to act in unison has always been a fool's errand. And time is running out.
Image: shutterstock
6 comments:
I get tired of the developed world dumping blame on China and India. The developed world is responsible for 80% of the carbon emissions from 1850. It moved its manufacturing to China and India in part to avoid the associated carbon emissions. Then the leaders of the developed world have the gall to point fingers at China and India for not doing more.
China and India import coal mainly from Australia. Sure China produces almost enough coal to meet domestic needs, but it still needs to import coking coal for steel production. So why isn't Australia turning off the taps? Why is Canada still entertaining pie-in-the-sky dreams of selling China dilbit and LNG?
It makes no difference where the fossil fuel is burnt. If we're sincere about addressing climate change, then we need to stop producing and exporting fossil fuel. At the very least, developed fossil fuel producing nations need to carry the carbon emissions associated with burning those fuels on their accounts.
Cap
Precisely, Cap. If the stuff comes from us, we own the emissions.
Heavy rains return to BC this week, an atmospheric river over Haida Gwaii before hooking south to pay its respects to the Fraser Valley.
At some point this bickering must become moot. That point, I believe,will be reached by some countries before this decade is over. These often poor and vulnerable nations will realize this quarter-century of COPs has failed them as professor Mora's "climate departure" takes hold.
Who could have known that a political consensus approach to an environmental problem would never succeed? Oh, that guy who said "sometimes we must do what is required." He knew.
He knew and he also knew how to motivate people, Mound.
I spent five months in China in 2007 in a huge city called Qingdao. When I arrived to teach, it was like entering an old section of Europe. The Germans had occupied it from 1840 until after the First World War. Now, return to 2007…..the air pollution was so bad, no one walked to work. Then one morning I awoke to a clear day and to my surprise, a range of low mountains I did not know existed were visible. That is how bad the pollution was. I only lasted five months and returned to South Korea. This was at a time when China was not so closed off. Even though China has worked at cleaning up certain areas of China for the Chinese elite, it is more polluted now as I learned while back visiting S. Korea in 2019-20. We in the western world are responsible for Most of China’s pollution. Why? We chose to have China manufacture most everything we use. Now they, including India, Africa and most of Asia want our life style. Now, we are faced with pollution at death levels and Canada, the US, the UK and Australia are not listening to us, the people who KNOW what we are facing. Are we showing them how looking after our climate is done? Not on your toody- toody. Oh yes I forgot, we are showing countries how to pollute. What awful people we are by talking out of both sides of our mouth. Anyong
Some very telling observations, Anyong. Our choices have affected the choices of big polluters. We bear responsibility for their pollution.
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