Editorial
Copenhagen conference is an opportunity
Missing it will lead to deeper calamity
THE sense of urgency which characterises the world climate conference in Copenhagen says it all. Never before has the international community been exposed to the kind of risks it now faces because of the increasing deterioration in global climate conditions. On the first day of the conference, where as many as 192 nations are taking part and which will be joined later by heads of government and state, these risks were highlighted. Perhaps Yvo de Boers, the UN climate chief, put it in perspective when he noted that the time for formal statements is over, that indeed the moment is here and now for governments across the world to take concrete action. A major component of such action must be a deal that will have the world's rich and emerging economies promise to curb their greenhouse gas emissions.
The imperatives are obvious. Action on climate change requires that the Copenhagen conference quickly seal a deal on how best to help the world's poor nations handle the crisis which is now almost at their doorsteps. A crucial aspect of the deal relates to the availability of tens of billions of dollars to poor nations every year in order for them to cope with the crisis. Anything less than that or any attempt to reach a compromise will simply defeat the purpose of the conference and undermine the seriousness attached to the issue. And the issue, in bare terms, is that with global temperature levels going up the way they have been, the world will stand to lose a significant number of animal and plant species; countries will see their coastal cities flooded by an unnatural rise in water levels; and drought and pestilence will add to the calamity through claiming lives in the affected countries.
We in Bangladesh are especially concerned because of the grave risks we are exposed to unless the Copenhagen conference comes up with a deal. Just how vulnerable we are is a fact noted by the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Kumar Pachauri. If world temperatures rise by another two degrees centigrade, Bangladesh and a number of other states could be submerged. The resultant tragedy can only be imagined. And yet hope flickers when Bangladesh makes it known that it has garnered, on its own, a climate change fund of $100 million. That is a sign of the desperation in which poor nations find themselves. On a more positive note, it is also a signal to the developed world that if societies at risk are willing to help themselves, it becomes the moral responsibility of the more fortunate ones to pitch in with large doses of assistance.
Copenhagen is an opportunity. Missing it will push us all into deeper calamity.
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