World leaders are gathering in Pittsburgh USA for a G20 summit, which officially commences on 24 September 2009 with an aim to review the progress made since the Washington and London Summits and discuss further actions to assure a sound and sustainable recovery from the global financial and economic crisis.
Two days have been set aside to cover this topic and calls to commit to further government intervention in international banking and commerce.
If recent media coverage cited on www.g20pittsburghsummit.org is any indication, then the minds of world leaders are firmly fixed on their national economic woes.
It is easy to suspect that global warming will continue take a backseat to the global financial crisis, despite the fact that a UN meeting on climate change is taking place tomorrow ahead of the G20 summit.
It is a real possibility that very little progress will be made this week towards the Copenhagen agenda on climate change, despite the Rudd Government's reported behind-the-scenes work on the legal framework for a new climate change treaty, and ways to finance poorer countries' efforts to adapt to a low-carbon world, could become a crucial contribution in breaking the impasse on a greenhouse treaty.
Immediate national economic imperatives appear to be winning the hearts and mind battle at the expense of addressing very real environmental crises.
Yesterday The Guardian reported:
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon and negotiators say that unless they can convert world leaders into committed advocates of radical action, it will be very hard to reach a credible and enforceable agreement to avoid the most devastating consequences of climate change.
The Australian has an online poll underway which asks the question:
Do you expect any concrete progress to be made at the November climate change summit in Copenhagen?
Most of those who have taken part in this poll so far (pictured) are not optimistic about
the possibility of concrete progress.Indeed many people are becoming very cynical about global and government response to climate change. On the NSW North Coast this has manifested itself in a number of ways, including this black humour view of Yamba's problems at the mouth of the Clarence River:
* When asked what strategies were in place to provide support in the event of a major flood of West Yamba, one SES worker is reported as to have said "We'll stand on the edge of Yamba Hill and toss life jackets to people as they float by". [Climate Change Australia,Clarence Division, Submission on Draft Sea Level Rise Policy Statement by the NSW Government,March 2009]
No comments:
Post a Comment