Saturday 28 September 2013


After various rifts and even more varied opinions within the Union, the European Union (EU), has finally shown its unity and agreed on a 'climate talks stand', for the global climate control talks at Copenhagen, scheduled in December. The two day EU summit was a success by all means, as the leaders of Europe, finally agreed on a unanimous mandate to carry to Copenhagen, which they hope will be a good heir to the Kyoto Protocol.

As research revealed that some of the poorer nations of the world would be required to dig up about $148 billion each year, by the year 2020, in order to tackle the rising mercury, the European Union has come to the rescue. Since, the winner at Copenhagen is likely to be the one with the biggest wad of cash, the European Union has come out with the revelation that it will bear its fair share. Such a philanthropic act should serve EU well, with many new allies, especially when the developing nations ask for monetary shares from the developed ones at Copenhagen.

Out-and-out, the verdict seems to be that this is an ambitious plan by the EU, to stall climate change after 2012, 'plan' being the key word. It is left to be seen as to what happens in the time period between the plan and its implementation. It is a pity that after overcoming so many differences, the EU leaders have still failed to come out with anything concrete, like the details of what, how much and when. Even after the consensus, there are still murmurs within the EU, that the poorer EU nations will be shelling out more bucks than the others, in this EU plan for Copenhagen. After the talks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that a working group, "to take account of each country's financing capabilities", will be set up for the purpose.

All in all, it seems that the harsh letter written by the South African cleric Desmond Tutu, to Poland, criticizing its refusal to help the other nations of the world (when it has itself received so much aid earlier), seems to have worked. Yet, we wonder if this is yet again, just empty talk.

While on one side, the EU Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, claims that EU is ready to act, let us remember that they are not offering a blank check (in his own words) and will only loosen their purse strings, if the other partners deliver. Their good deeds with funny caveats, does make it seem like this is not a philanthropic act. Another thing many are worried about, is that there is a long way to go and anything can go wrong in between. Joris Den Blanken, from the Greenpeace foundation, hinted at just that, when he said that they have not put the money where their mouth is, and neither have they indicated how much the amount might be.

So while our ozone depletes, our polar icecaps melt and our flora and fauna bear the brunt of this man-made, we shall all just wait and watch. Let us see what comes out of the Copenhagen talks, and whether our global leaders actually do something substantial and tangible. There is a general feeling though, that it will take a lot more than this, to alert our global leaders, to react genuinely to the actual magnitude of the calamity that has almost befallen us.

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