Some 10,000 people have converged in Bali this month to discuss the year’s hottest topic: climate change. After a busy week of talks (you can watch meeting recaps here and here) and more talks, the United Nations Climate Change Conference is gearing up for its next segment this Wednesday, when government bigwigs are expected to … talk.
Talks are expected to last two years, predicts Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General, who said last Thursday, “global warming has risen to the top of the world’s agenda — that there is momentum and, I hope, the political will to act.”
Hopefuls, including Ban, are earmarking the two-week conference to set the stage for the years past 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol will expire. Starting this Wednesday, higher-profile guests (environment ministers) from nations great and small, will start sketching the world’s future international climate pact, otherwise known as the “Bali roadmap.”
Timed to coincide with the meet were two precedent-setting events that we plucked out from a gazillion press releases:
*The newly-elected Australian government received a standing ovation last Monday after declaring it would sign the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The only other first-world country that continues to reject the protocol happens to be one of the world’s worst greenhouse gas emitters (the United States).
*CLP, a dominant electricity company in Asia, pledged last Friday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% for every kilowatt-hour of electricity it generates over the next three years; over the course of time, the company plans to reduce emissions by a whopping 76%. The move is noteworthy because the company –active in developing countries – is not limited by the emissions caps set by the Kyoto.
PR-savvy Andrew Brandler, the CEO of the company said, “Our target will lead to the saving of millions of tonnes of carbon emissions between now and 2050. It is a major departure from business as usual, which will require an entirely different view of our business and our facilities.”
It is hoped that CLP has set the pace of what will need to happen in developing countries as their energy demands increase. Some predict that we would need nine planets the size of our earth to sustain ourselves if the poorer nations consumed the same amount of energy as our North American brethren.
In light of this worrying scenario, the fate of developing nations is a focal point of the meet in Bali. As it unfolds some profound questions are being raised – such as how to create emissions incentives for developing nations struggling to survive. Also, how can we tackle rapid deforestation and at the same time improve the speed of technology transfer where few solutions exist.
Will Bali, or the Island of the Gods, go down in history as the address where the world began to reverse climate change? Ban has said that the Bali roadmap will become “one of the most complex multilateral treaties ever to be undertaken.” Let’s hope that the self-labeled climate change evangelist has a few otherworldly tricks up his sleeve. The talks continue.