Every day, the critical December summit in Copenhagen grows closer. All agree that climate change is an existential threat to humankind. Yet agreement on what to do still eludes us.
How can this be? The issues are complex, affecting everything from national economies to individual lifestyles. They involve political trade-offs and commitments of resources no leader can undertake lightly. We could see all that at recent climate negotiations in Bangkok. Where we needed progress, we saw gridlock.
Yet the elements of a deal are on the table. All we require to put them in place is political will. We need to step back from narrow national interest and engage in frank and constructive discussion in a spirit of global common cause.
A deal needs to be backed by money and the means to deliver it. Developing countries need funding and technology so they can move more quickly toward green growth. The solutions we discuss cannot be realized without substantial additional financing, including through carbon markets and private investment.
A deal must include an equitable global governance structure. All countries must have a voice in how resources are deployed and managed. That is how trust will be built.
How convenient that they should meet in Bankok of all places.The SEX Capital of the world.I guess they must take us for a bunch of fools.If these people really waanted to help our planet we would have a working plan already.
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This is something that keeps knocking around in my mind whenever I read or hear the phrase “global governance”…
WHY would all or most political sociopaths worldwide, struggle so fervently to centralized power into the hands of just a FEW top-of-heap sociopaths??…
Sort of limiting their individual control/power-trip potentials, for the benefit of few distant, selected control freaks…
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