They came, they haggled, they left

It has taken some time and some thinking to decide if Copenhagen was a failure or not. It was neither, perhaps. It was a damp squib where world politicians bartered and bargained for some more time to put off the burning issue.

No legally binding commitments from the developed world nor any from the new kids on the polluting block, no peaking period for any, the Accord twice mentions the objective of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius, yet has no firm targets for emissions or for greenhouse gas concentrations! Worse, a reference in the accord to completing a treaty by the end of 2010 was deleted.

One thing for sure, it was the beginning of what could be an end to the Kyoto Protocoal and what it stood for – among other things, differentiated responsibilities. The US chose to remove the distinction between developed and developing and replace it with polluters and non-polluters.

The Accord says there’s a “collective commitment” by developed countries to provide fast-start financing to developing countries “approaching” $30 billion. There’s also a “goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries.” With already outrage in the US over the $100 bilion, remains to be seen how much of it will ever be signed. After all this was no deal, just a pledge!

Obama played the firm and resolute American as he took over the reigns of discussions from a UN-style process involving the nations of the world to one that held closed-door meetings with the powers that mattered. American media reports have decried the billions offered but backed Obama for making the change. The UN process has failed to deliver and the new world order will see more of the big and powerful deciding what’s best for the rest!

The deal was brokered between China, South Africa, India, Brazil and the US, but it disappointed African and other vulnerable countries that had been holding out for deeper emission cuts to hold the global temperature rise to 1.5C this century.

A new scientific report, the Copenhagen Prognosis, outlines the terrible challenge the world faces from climate change—as well as several paths to safety. Top climate scientists have offered a stinging indictment of the political process, noting that the unofficial commitments made are “not consistent with the expressed political will to protect humanity:”

It is time to forget the political drama and get on with work. Let us look at what kind of energy management is happening at our workplaces. Write in to us with details.

By the way, the picture shows our planet's fragile atmosphere as taken from the international space station.