After an unprecedented amount of time spent at a COP negotiating, the UNFCCC finally wrapped up last night. During the final days of the conference, the mood among youth and NGO's was dismal and pessimistic. Unfortunately, that mood was deserved and carried through to the final negotiations. Little was actually accomplished throughout COP18. The Kyoto Protocol was renewed for a few more years, but many parties dropped out of the agreement and emission reduction targets were not strengthened. Supposedly, the groundwork has been layed for a binding agreement in 2015, but who want's to actually wait that long? It feels to me like we have waited long enough. I mean, 18 COP's and this is all we've got? Any moment could be the point of no return, sending our climate and our lives into an era we would no longer recognize.
Not surprisingly, the Qatari government and media have claimed (or have been told to claim) that this conference was a huge success. In the newspaper above, as well as many others we have seen this morning, they have called the final negotiations to be a "Climate Gateway." Maybe I'm just being bitter, but the first thing I thought of was comparing this "climate gateway" talk to a gateway drug. This "celebration" of non-commitment could continue on in coming years and cause basically nothing to get done. Let's hope that does not end up being the case! We cannot afford another three years of passive action and weak commitments. However, from the way it looks right now, the 2015 goal will become a 2020 goal, which will in turn become a 2025 goal.
We need to stop this can from being kicked down the road any longer (as Dr. Peterman likes to say). The science tells us what will happen if pollution continues to be emitted at this rate. It also tells us that we have a very short amount of time to correct this problem before there are catastrophic consequences. I cannot imagine being a small island nation, who is [not so] slowly watching their home disappear as the sea level rises. How sad it must be to come to these conferences in such dire need of help, only to watch the same lack of progress be repeated over and over again.
International conferences such as the COP are beneficial because they give a reason for countries to come together and discuss this global issue. However, when large countries like the U.S. come to the conference with little or no domestic policy of their own, it creates an ineffective environment for everyone. A delegate from Spain we spoke with at dinner last night told us that the U.S. was virtually silent throughout the negotiations. That is simply not ok. We have all heard numerous times this week that smaller nations need us larger and more developed nations to assist them and set an example for them with climate policy. The task we are trying to take on is not impossble, and it is not unnecessary. I guess it's up to COP19 in Warsaw now to turn things around for us. The U.S. had better get their act together!
P.S. I'm counting on you, Obama.
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