Of course, this is purely my opinion. I agree that it is my opinion, and mine alone. But being a person who loves sharing — and who also happens to be rather determined to convert you to my liberal, hippie, tree-hugging, animal-saving, humanity-loving and Let’s-Not-Destroy-The-Earth-And-Life-As-We-Know-It cause — I am going to ignore your eye-rolling and share with you exactly why I think you should care about the Copenhagen conference.
First: a very brief summary to jog your memory. From the Dec. 7 to 18, over 170 world leaders will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, to discuss and attempt to work out a new strategy to address the pressing issue of climate change. They will lay the foundation for a legally binding international treaty on the same subject (to be negotiated in 2010).
Yes, it sounds just as dull as you expected. So why should you care? Because it might not be as yawn-inducing as you suspect. This year, for the holidays, the city of Copenhagen has stepped up its commitment to environmentalism by not only equipping the Christmas tree in City Hall Square with energy-efficient light bulbs, but also making these bulbs powered by bicycles. Yes, bicycles. This could be the best thing since light-up sneakers. Moreover, in an effort to stay relevant, the United Nations has unofficially adopted a Bob Dylan song, “A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall,” as the theme song for the negotiations. “I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests; I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans; I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world.”
The image is appropriate for the climate summit, as we are dealing with potential apocalyptic floods. Shiny gimmicks and classics, like those above, interest the media. But the aspect of the Copenhagen climate summit that truly demands your attention is the sobering reality behind it. It is this reality that raises its hand to answer the question, “Why should I care?” We should care, because the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to regulate climate change and global warming runs out in 2012, but global warming and human contributions to climate change will, unfortunately, not go with it. In fact, the rate of development in certain parts of the world and the correlating levels of carbon emission from the burning of fossil fuels predict that we are taking this planet down a self-destructive track.
We should care, because the current politics of dirty energy are not only contributing to the destruction of the environment, but also to violent conflict and crimes against humanity — which go ignored and excused, because the demand for these non-renewable forms of energy has created a situation in which our hands are tied in the political arena. (I am referring, of course, to the genocide being carried out in Darfur, Sudan and America’s reluctance to do much about it because we’re up to our eyebrows in debt to China, who supports Sudan, their primary oil supplier). We should care, because deforestation and carbon emissions are devastating ecosystems — and the livelihoods of people who depend on said ecosystems — around the world. We should care, because if the current trend of rising atmospheric temperatures continues, entire island nations will go underwater with rising sea levels.
We should care, because no one should have to pay that kind of a price for our mistakes. No one should have to suffer simply because we were too comfortable, too apathetic and too set in our ways to think of maybe — maybe — making a real effort to stop climate change. And we must care, because in a world as interconnected and interdependent as the one in which we now live, the fate of one might just be the fate of all. If this ship sinks, we are all going down together — because, honestly, what lifeboat can we save ourselves with when the S.S. Earth goes under?
For our own sakes, if for nothing else, we must look to the negotiations taking place in Copenhagen and care.