Time to stop the climate blame game

Malini Mehra, BBC News 3 Dec 07;

As a key UN climate change conference gets underway in Bali, Malini Mehra says the current global political system is "abysmally unfit for purpose". In this week's Green Room, she calls for nations to stop playing the blame game, and work together to deliver a low carbon global economy.

Representatives from more than 180 nations have gathered in Bali to begin discussions towards a new global deal on climate change.

The odds could not be higher - climate change is a challenge of civilisational dimensions.

Scientists have coined a term for our new age - they call it the "anthropocene" because human interference with planetary systems is affecting the very life-support systems we depend upon.

They warn that we may be the last generation to live in an age of climate stability, and that we are now entering an era outside human experience.

Jim Hansen - the man who first broke the warnings about the greenhouse effect in 1988 - says: "We are on the precipice of climate system tipping points beyond which there is no redemption."

The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) puts it more diplomatically. In its carefully worded, politically-parsed and vetted Synthesis Report, it warns that "anthropogenic warming could lead to some impacts that are abrupt or irreversible, depending upon the rate and magnitude of the climate change".

More recent studies suggest that phenomena such as accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet and less carbon dioxide (CO2) being absorbed by the oceans mean that tipping points and abrupt climate change could actually be much closer than we think.

Breaking the deadlock

If the scientists are worried and calling for action, what has been the reaction of our political leadership?

As I sit here in Delhi, the talk is of Bali being an almighty battle between the "rich North" and the "poor South".

The position of my own government is well known. India is a staunch supporter of the "principle of common but differentiated responsibilities" enshrined in the text of the UN climate convention when it comes to environmental effort.

In short, this holds that as non-historical emitters with large poor populations and negligible per capita emissions, developing countries should not be expected to reduce their emissions.

Development pathways cannot be compromised as a result of climate change, and developing countries need room to develop.

The head of the Chinese delegation at Bali - citing figures suggesting developed countries are responsible for 77% of greenhouse gas emissions prior to 2000 - says: "The primary responsibility for tackling climate change should rest with the developed countries - they should take the lead."

This southern perspective is a bit of a caricature of reality. Outside the handy world view of political blocs such as the G-77/China, the world of the 21st Century is infinitely more diverse.

It defies the easy categorisation of labels, such as "developing" or "southern" that political traditions and ideological expediency ascribe.

For example, the inconvenient truth is that countries at immediate risk of climate change, such as small island states, are given short shrift by more powerful middle-income nations like India and China, which are more effective at setting agendas on behalf of the developing world.

Indeed, a coalition of small island states now wants China and India to reduce their emissions. China's CO2 emissions now arguably exceed those of the US, while India is the world's fourth largest emitter.

Even if the developed world were to stop emitting tomorrow, we would still be locked into long-term climate change, with China's and India's projected emissions tipping us over the edge.

In it together

Current global climate politics are abysmally "unfit for purpose". The carving up of the world into "developed" and "developing" countries is not only archaic, it has created a pack mentality and self-justifying logic that has hidden diversity, masked interests and obstructed the emergence of truly co-operative global solutions.

Finding a politics more suited to the precarious climate-constrained age we are living in will require a return to first principles, new thinking and new mindsets.

The first principle is to recognise a common human interest in a pro-active response to climate change. Playing the waiting game will not benefit anyone - we are imperilled as a species, not as nationalities.

Climate justice requires that we maintain climate stability for poor, vulnerable and marginalised communities in every country. The poor should not be used by others as an excuse for inaction.

Once we have agreed to preserve climate stability, we need to ensure there is a fair share of the global commons for everyone and that all countries can gain from the opportunities presented by moving to a low carbon economy. Weaning the world off oil will be of greatest benefit to the poorest countries.

Thirdly, if our bloc politics are a constraint on action, we need to change them. Thinking "out of the box" may be difficult for bureaucrats and others with a vested interest in the institutional status quo, but change is possible.

Progressive politicians, business leaders, civil society organisations and opinion formers have a key role to play in articulating a new global ethics and a politics of the possible that drive change in a new forward-looking direction.

Climate change must be seized as a new agenda of hope and opportunity to galvanise a new generation of leaders for whom action, not rhetoric, counts and who are committed to making positive change happen.

As the delegates in Bali reflect on our future, they would do well to think as human beings.

Malini Mehra is the founder and chief executive of the Centre for Social Markets, which specialises in corporate responsibility, sustainability and climate change

The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website