The president of China said, at the COP21
conference in Paris that “this is just the beginning.” It is just the beginning of a series of
conferences and agreements to secure the future of the planet. COP21 is also, of course, seen as the
culmination of a long series of negotiations.
Whether an agreement is reached by the end of this week, remains to be
seen. But it is absolutely essential
that one be reached.
We have made a right mess of this
world. There have been several dangerous
events over the last 100 years partially resolved through international
agreements, some through responsible national actions. We can point to the use of lead tetraethyl,
DDT, chlorofluorocarbons to mention a few. And now fossil fuel consumption.
Or at least that’s what I thought COP21 was
all about. But if you read the draft
agreement being worked on in Paris this week, the words “oil,” “fossil,” and
“reserve” do not appear once, and the only reference to gas is in the phrase
“greenhouse gas!” The only reason to be
at the conference is ignored in its words.
The word “emission” appears frequently, as in emissions of greenhouses
gases, but no reference to the source of those emissions.
No surprise I suppose. We are drunk on our consumption of oil and
gas. Our lifestyle is the fundamental
problem. We are addicts who cannot
recognize its seriousness. We cannot
admit that this is the wrong way to go, so focus instead on how we can mitigate
for developing nations the costs of limiting “greenhouse gas” emissions. At the same time we are spending billions of
taxpayer dollars to encourage further oil and gas exploration, when all
existing reserves need to be left in the ground. Oh the absurdity of it all.
Even if we do reach agreement this week, there
will be more environmental agreements to come.
We can already see the use of neo-nicotinoids, and plastic micro beads
as sources of future catastrophes, let alone the almost invisible destruction
caused by plastics in our oceans. This
to me is the sense in which we should interpret Chairman Xi’s remarks: The beginning is trying to sort out the mess
we have created with CO2. If we can come
together to address this crisis, then maybe we can also work towards the next.
So I am in agreement with Chairman Xi. This has to be the beginning of realizing
that we are destroying our only home.
But I also find myself in agreement with Pogo, when he said, “We have
met the enemy, and he is us.” It is
tough not to be a cynic.
