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Climate change summit 2009 results and our failure as a human race
The 2009 global climate summit has finished
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he 2009 global climate summit has finished. What was the result? Some would say "collapse", others said that "it was better than nothing", while US President Barack Obama proclaimed it formed "a consensus that will serve as a foundation for global action against climate change for years to come".
Whatever arguments we may want to put forth in defense for or against it, there is one reality that we need to humbly accept: that we, as a human race, have failed to achieve the level of respect we should have for our planet earth.
We have not been able to free ourselves from old ways of thinking that center around the importance of the economy over the environment, developed versus developing countries, or an us-versus-them mentality.
We have failed to put ourselves above mere countries and view the world from the perspective of a global population, as stewards of the earth that have the intelligence, passion and knowledge to tackle common problems that affects us all.
Instead, what happened in Copenhagen was mere debate about opportunity costs and opportunity lost, about historical pasts and future development costs, about emission targets, which in the end turned the summit into little more than a technological negotiation.
In the end, little common ground was achieved. So, where will this lead us? More uncertainties .
Many of the discussions that focus on climate change seem so complex that one can easily get lost in them. Amid all these complexities, we forgot to view the simplicity of the issue: that growth has its limit and the earth will respond to any pressure that is being put onto it, no matter who enforces those pressures.
As stated in the documentary film The 11th Hour, "We need to acknowledge that what we are facing today is a problem of system".
We have to understand that the economic system is part of the earth system as whole, including the biosphere. What we are facing today is a situation where the economic system is growing faster than any other part of the whole.
The biosphere for example is limited; it cannot continually sustain the disproportionate growth of the economic system. Resources are limited.
It is as simple as that. Understanding this principle is funda-mental to tackling environmental issues.
Why is it so hard for humans to understand this simple fact? Are we being blinded by the things we have achieved? Have we forgotten to slow down while fulfilling life's challenges? Why do we fail to see the consequences of the development we have achieved?
Environmental issues require leadership more than technology and knowledge. Humans have the knowledge, the science and the capacity to develop the appropriate technologies. Time and time again, history has shown that we, human, can develop and refine technology to meet our demands.
Thus, we have, and we can, but the question still remains: Will we? Will humanity have the capacity to reach above all, to fly high and put ourselves above our differences? We need a leader that can brave the uncertainties of the future, a leader who has the courage to open a new path toward wisdom, a leader who understands the oneness of life, a leader who has the humbleness to accept the faults of mankind, and yet has the passion to bring the human race to its full capacity as stewards of the earth.
The writer is a lecturer at Bogor Agriculture University (IPB Bogor) and a senior scientist at the Nature Conservancy. He is also a former executive director of The Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Kehati).
