Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Sunday, April 28th, 2024

Dispute on Combating Climate Change

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Dispute on Combating  Climate Change

A display of disparity and disagreement can be felt in the air blowing out of conference hall of Doha where countries are engaged in intense discussion over how to reduce the greenhouse gases. The only thing, all participants have consensus on is to deal with the phenomenon, but everyone is kicking the Ping-Pong ball quicker than the other to lobby for lesser responsibly and least economic consequences. Indeed, no one is ready to take responsibility.

However, the UN climate talks is about to come to an end, yet no clear mechanism has been drawn on how to combat the global warming or even extending the Kyoto protocol on curbing emissions. Seemingly what has made the situation more complicated is the ongoing global economic recession. Countries have already been struggling in the swamp of 2008 financial crisis in the US which sparked global financial crisis and subsequently economic depression fear that their commitment for reducing earth heating gases may affect their economic growth or recovery.

It should be noticed that many countries still suffer and fully alarmed of falling back into recession as result of measures to bring down the consumption of fossil fuel because many countries have not got out of economic swamp of 2008 financial crisis.

Though many countries could manage the crisis, including US itself as there are good reports from housing, spiraling demand for consuming goods and employment market, but Europe for example is desperately trying to cope with the aftermath. Yet with efforts made and measure held, no certain way appears ahead to bring earlier wealth and prosperity back to the continent.

The euro crisis has set off alarm for other countries as it looks hard for global economy to recover without recovery of Euro. Thus, pressures are mounted by the rest of countries on euro zone to deal with the problem as soon as possible otherwise it may spill over and pull other countries back to economic mayhem.

On the other hand, the only prescription given to fight the crisis is furthering austerity measures which have already end up to over 25 percent of unemployment in Greece and massive civil disobedience in many others.
So as it is clear that the global economy would not come back on the track unless demand rises for goods and services. People should be enabled to spend more money. It is only this process that companies, corporations and enterprises will make larger investments, recruit more employees and produce more. The cycle becomes like this: more consumption, more production, more employment and finally prosperity.

But if we look it from global warming prospective, the cycle becomes: more consumption, more employment, more production and finally more greenhouse gases emission.

Now countries bewildered what to do? Whether give up the current economic system and find a sustainable economic growth mechanism. Though the second option looks ok but it needs a long time while it is necessary to act quickly or remain eyewitness to sufferings of people.

Now in such critical time, where UN climate talks may head? The core discussion is who should take larger responsibility in curbing emissions. Countries diverge on this point. Developing countries are pointing fingers towards developed and industrialized for polluting the environment or releasing billions of tons of gases into the atmosphere.

Following the step of Western countries, many Asian and African countries have also reached to a level of economic prosperity. To sustain and develop their economy, all depend equally on fossil fuel which will come to end but there is enough beneath earth to provide fuel for decades.

Imitating the western economic system, a poor country three decades ago, changed into the second largest economy in the world. If it maintains the current rate of economic development, it will soon replace the United States and will become the largest economy. Same is the case with India, South Africa, Brazil and many other small and big countries, by following the very model of industrialized country, have changed into relatively wealthy nations. But if the situation continues on the same path and many more nations join the current model of economic club—burning fossil fuels to put economic development on the circle—the Earth will change to inhabitable planet. So, what should be done? Nothing, just emission should bestopped.

Are developing countries or new industrialized countries ready to be more responsible regarding the global warming instead of their nations? Obviously, they understand the global warming would leave no one unaffected and might engulf equally one day, but they ask developed countries to take larger responsibility.

Developed countries should bring down their emissions to minimum and also developing countries to develop or provide energy effective technologies. Because major part of greenhouse gases are released by Western countries. It is not fair that after polluting the entire atmosphere to which all citizens of the planet are entitled, the first world nations continue enjoying prosperity and pressurize the rest to curb their emissions as they now do.

This is the issue which sparks disputes. Moreover, as is noticed, Europe which is blamed for huge part of global warming and climate change does not have a good economic prospective in comparison to some developing countries.

Meanwhile, as it looks many developed countries agree to play larger role and pay to poor countries to develop more energy effective technologies, but the share of each nation is in dispute. This is what makes the prospective of global agreement on combating climate change in darkness.

Masood Korosh is the permanent writer of Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at outlookafghanistan@gmial.com

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