Value change needed to combat climate change
- Source: Global Times
- [02:01 November 30 2009]
- Comments
Turning "green" into "gold" is not solely a scientific or an economic issue. If the upcoming Copenhagen climate change conference is to take any substantial step, the developed nations should take concrete political and legal action, and stop passing the buck.
Given the ambitious goals and bold commitments announced by countries in the run-up to the Copenhagen summit, it would be easy to draw rosy conclusions about mankind combating climate change.
But on closer scrutiny, the picture that emerges is more complicated.
The European Union's commitment to scale up its carbon emission cut to 30 percent by 2020 is conditional upon commitments of developing countries. US President Barack Obama's proposed goal of a 17 percent cut in emissions by 2020 is only roughly a 5 percent cut from 1990 levels – even lower than the goal of former president Bill Clinton in 1997.
There is mounting pressure on China and developing nations to fight climate change when Western nations should be taking the lead.
The Western lifestyle based on high consumption of energy and resources has proved to be unsustainable. Though some highly polluting industries have been outsourced to the developing world, ironically, the US remains the largest per capita emitter.
To avert the disastrous impact of global warming, the West must take the lead in making a value shift toward "sustainable consumption." Rather than putting pressure on developing nations, the West should support them with funds and technology transfer.
A "serious soul-searching," as China's special representative to the Copenhagen talks Yu Qingtai put it, is needed. The solution to global warming is not the poorer countries helping the rich to maintain their high-energy consuming life. It hinges on the rich helping the poorer economies to develop in a more sustainable way.
China's long-held policy on climate change is clear and consistent. One of the major emitters, China takes the "common but differentiated responsibilities" in fighting climate change.
Following Chinese President Hu Jintao's pledge in September to cut China's carbon intensity by a "notable margin," the State Council unveiled a plan Thursday to reduce carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 with 2005 as the base level.
While realizing that a shift toward a low-carbon economy is the key to China's future, the pace of emissions has been and will continue to be adjusted to match domestic economic conditions and capabilities.
Any sharp drop in industrial activity to cut emissions beyond this level will shake the economic stability of China and the world.
"We are all in the same boat", as the world learned during the financial crisis, is no less applicable to the challenge of climate change.
Despite uncertainties on the journey ahead, the boat cannot move forward if the developed nations keep blaming other countries as a ploy to justify their inadequate response or inaction.
To do so is unfair to developing nations and self-defeating to the international community.
