Half-a-success is better than none. The 24th United Nations Summit on Climate Change in Katowice, Poland, has ended with a half-baked agreement on operationalising the Paris agreement on climate change, but without key commitment on funding for developing countries for reducing their green house emissions. The target of emission cuts too was left vague with some wealthy nations, led by the US, refusing to commit themselves.
The proposed cut in emissions, originally proposed at two per cent of the pre-industrial age temperatures, to 1.5 per cent too did not find favour with the naysayers, predictably led by the rich members. The US, which unilaterally reneged on the Paris Agreement after Donald Trump became President, has for company the cash-rich oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia, etc., to undermine the global consensus on fighting greenhouse gases. Ironically, Katowice, the venue of the COP24, is a huge CO2 producer, with several thermal power stations located nearby. Eighty percent of total power generated in Poland is thermal.
Yet, the host nation was happy that a last-minute agreement was made possible, despite major issues being kicked down the road for future grappling. The most disappointing was the lack of progress on creating an annual fund of $100 billion to compensate the developing countries for implementing the Paris Accord. Since the major culprit for the current state of the environment is the rich world, it cannot reasonably demand of the poor countries to make sacrifices to ensure that the world does not tip over and becomes unlivable for a vast swathes of the global population. Erratic weather events such as unseasonal rains, droughts, floods, famines and cyclones are directly linked to global warming. Coastal nations face a catastrophic rise in sea-levels which may submerge several low-lying countries. The Katowice conference was expected to frame rules for the implementation of the Paris agreement from 2020, but the reluctance of key polluters has ensured that there is no guarantee that the agreement will be implemented. Slashing carbon pollution by half till 2030 now looks uncertain. The global temperatures are already one degree higher than that in the pre-industrial age.
Again, there was no agreement on steps to be taken to ensure that member-countries do not fudge figures of reduction in emissions. Some countries tend to claim double credit for emission savings. The bitter truth is that in spite of concrete evidence of global warming, most nations are unwilling to cut emissions in case it hampers economic growth. Poor countries need to be compensated because though less populous, the rich countries alone are guilty of a reckless neglect of environmental concerns. Defying equity and justice, they now seek to inflict the costs of switching to cleaner technologies on the poor world, a tendency which has grown further after the global warming deniers have found in Trump their chief protagonist. Without urgent steps to cut emissions, global warming will continue to be a threat to the well-being of the world community.
