Cancun Climate Change Convention Crisis

2010 the year of Biodiversity

As reported in the article I wrote last year, Copenhagen 2009 was the big chance for USA, and specifically Obama, to show that they had courage in first of all admitting that climate change exists, and secondly that humans have a big part to play in that change. These two admissions alone would have resulted in swaying any doubts of nations in a similar position and would have ensured that everyone could take the next step in outlining carbon cuts, wildlife and forestry conservation proposals, among others.

A year later we arrive in Cancun, Mexico, home of drug lords, violent crime and kidnapping. Yet Mexico has some of the most astounding natural, archaeological and historical treasures on earth. It is seen as having a big influence as it rises out of the shadows of a developing country to be a major player on the world stage, with talk of developing countries having to contribute more to reduce emissions and over population, it is a good choice for a host.

What’s the Big Deal on Climate Change?

After a year which has seen almost all records for extreme weather conditions broken, extreme cold snaps and unbearable heat in places where such conditions are uncommon. As I write this there has just been a mudslide after excessive heavy rain in Medellin, Colombia, smothering at least 50 people, this is said to have been caused by La Niña where colder than usual currents run along the Pacific coast. The rainy season in Mexico, Central and northern parts of South America lasts a firm 6 months from June to November. In this time other countries in the region have also suffered excessive rain fall and consequential disasters.

Many people call the resulting deaths and destruction from all this extreme weather the disaster, but the fact is that the disaster is that those extreme weather conditions happen in the first place. These conditions are occurring because humans have taken the earth’s resources for granted, thinking there is an unlimited supply of fossil fuels, trees and animals. This is the real crisis, just focusing on climate is simply a part of the cause. Furthermore we should really seek out the origins of why humans have had such a rapid impact on the earth’s climate.

In “The Economics of Climate Change in Mexico” a study coordinated by Dr. Luis Miguel Galindo Paliza for this years climate change, he mentions

“Climate variability has been a constant throughout history. From the first records left by human beings with regard to their relationship with the climate, the principal and most common observation has been that the climate is changeable and, to a large extent, unpredictable.

To this natural variablity of the climate, recent decades have witnessed the addition of unsettling proof that human activities themselves are effecting changes in the climate with undesireable effects. This is what the term anthropogenic climate change refers to: alterations of the delicate
equilibrium of the global climate caused by human beings.”

In the hundreds of millions of years of the existence of simple life on earth there have been some severe and unpredictable temperature shifts and it is impossible to know for certain how these were caused, however we do know that these changes were not sudden. They happened over gradual and extended periods of time. It is thought that when there is an energy imbalance then there will be a severe shift in the earth’s climate.  In the past this has thought to be linked to Erupting Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Meteor Impacts and Solar Radiation however, studies over the past few decades suggest otherwise.

The Effects.

The earth has gone through natural changes as continents were formed and continually shifted from colder to warmer climates or warmer to colder climates, this is why we can see evidence of ancient sea life on the tops of mountains and we went through eras such as the ice-age. Now it is our increasing human population and its need to produce and consume more and more that is increasing the green house gasses (GHGs) in the atmosphere. Not so long ago we were all concerned about the hole in the Ozone Layer and had to cut down on using deodorant sprays as they contained too many CFC’s. We never hear anything about that any more. It seems that this was just a minor component of the big picture.

Evidence has shown that there is a direct correlation between the rise in temperature of our atmosphere caused by unnatural increases of gasses such as Methane, Nitrous Oxide, and Carbon Dioxide, and the rise of human industrialisation and our need to produce and consume since the 1800′s. This has caused an estimated increase of the temperature of between 1 and 4 degrees in this period of 200 years and is increasing exponentially. The last 25 years have seen the most rapid and highest rise in temperature and thus the most severe weather conditions on record.

The Solution?

With the 16th Climate Change Convention well and truly under way, what are the objectives of this year. Well, as with all these kind of ‘Save the Planet’

events it is all rather unclear. Obviously we all want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy investment, but you would think the clever people who gather at conferences such as these would have a clear plan on how to achieve this, but it seems this is not the case. It seems to be more about laying blame and showing political leverage than actually solving problems. Focusing more on politics and self promotion and how money can be made by creating new or more efficient energy processes doesn’t help the earth when it needs it most. The earth, and more importantly people, are unlikely to change their habits while they wait for people to provide an overall solution. We need governments to quickly implement laws that cut over use of plastics, over fishing, oil use, deforestation and tighter controls on vehicle pollution and farming. This will bring balance back to the earth’s natural climate control system quicker than any other solution.

Let’s see what happens upon conclusion of this convention. It was obvious that last year’s edition was far too ambitious with its goals and this year they seem to be keeping things on a more realistic level. Let’s hope that this amounts to some concrete regulations on climate change.

So what is the COP16?

Every year between November and December the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (shortened to COP) takes place, and Cancun in Mexico is the location of the 16th edition.

Read more on “The Economics of Climate Change in Mexico” by Dr. Luis Miguel Galindo Paliza (opens a PDF file).

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