some hours left for the final outcome at Durban climate talk

Today is the last day of the UNFCCC COP17 at Durban. Its 7.30 pm here at Durban and the text is still being negotiated. Lots of news, rumour, expectations floating around and one need to keep eyes and ears open to observing everything and mind to analyse things that we heard. Things are crazy here and I have just received another news that the closing plenary might get postponed to tomorrow morning.

Everyone, be it the COP president, heads of states, ministers, negotiators, members of civil society are damn tried but youth still have a lot of energy.  At the ICC lobby the energy was electrified by the youth as hundreds of people started singing, chanting and cheering for climate action. Amazing & brave solidarity with the most vulnerable nations here at the talks and to demand that nations not sign a “death sentence” of KP in Durban.

India is talking very strongly on equity issue but right now whatever information I am having India is not talking a progressive step at this last hour at least, or it might just be a strategic move by India. Things are changing dramatically every hour here. There are mainly three options available on table on the LCA track but picture is not too clear.

The good news is that this new wave of cross-over alliances is having an impact. Yesterday, in an unprecedented move, the least developed countries, the Alliance of Small Island States and the European Union hosted a joint press conference calling for an ambitious outcome in Durban. They noted “The price of buying time is rising. Durban must deliver. The EU, LDCs and AOSIS are ready to undertake concrete obligations to manage the climate change challenge.

We have done our bit over the last two week and now it’s the time for us to wait and watch what the high level segment decides in coming hours. Being an optimistic, I hope something positive would definitely come out but I also understand that negotiations at a global level are never easy.

The air around us

I was travelling with my friends in a public bus at Nasik road where we saw a huge pile of garbage burning. All of us immediately shouted "Carbon emission". This is very common sight at everywhere in India. People burn garbage, dry leaves etc on roadside which results in emission of black smoke which contains carbon dioxide. The question that comes to my mind and I would like to ask the readers to respond to this,

Is carbon emission has became more prominent issue then air pollution when talking about local environment?

We all know burning of garbage or for that matter anything cause air pollution which has a direct impact on us. Air pollutants that are inhaled have serious impact on human health affecting the lungs and the respiratory system. They are also taken up by the blood and pumped all round the body. These pollutants are also deposited on soil, plants and in the water, further contributing to human exposure. Moreover, we all are aware about impact of global warming too which is caused as a result of mainly carbon emission. 

It is indeed important for us to work on this issue of burning garbage and come up with solution. Whatever is the solution, it would result in addressing both the issue of air pollution and climate change. But to be more effective, it is important to me to understand which issue out of the two, air pollution and climate change should be the focus area for planning any solution. When I am talking about local impact, air pollution becomes focus issue as it has direct impact on the health of people, then why we all shouted "Carbon emission" when we sighted burning garbage.

Please help me understand by sharing your thoughts on this. 

Ethical framework for a Sustainable World

The current millennium started with recognition by the international community of the many critical situations it faces, the most appalling of which are addressed in the United Nations Millennium Declaration: The United Nations Millennium Development Goals aims to address issues of hunger, poverty, gender inequality, child mortality, water crisis, and environmental decline. The world is confronted today with three major challenges which encompass all other problems: the challenge of security, including the risks associated with terrorism; the challenge of poverty and underdeveloped economies; and the challenge of environmental sustainability.

2012 is the crucial year on the calendar as it marks 20 years of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro which lead to formation of UNFCCC. 2012 is also the year in which the Kyoto Protocol expires. Kyoto Protocol was an important step towards protecting environment as it sets individual, legally binding targets for industrialized countries prepared to take positive steps to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other GHGs from sources within their remit. “Common but Differentiate Responsibities” in the Kyoto makes it ethically correct as the countries (Annex 1) who are more responsible for this anthropogenic climate change should take the responsibility of combating and at the same time other countries (Non Annex 1) should also adapt sustainable development.

We must see climate change as an ethical problem because:

Ø  It is a problem caused by some people in one part of the world that puts others and the natural resources on which they depend at great risk

Ø  The harms to these other people are not mere inconveniences but in some cases catastrophic losses of life or the ability to sustain life

Climate change raises civilization challenging ethical question, any proposed climate change regime must be examined through an ethical lens. We must also understand that climate change is a global challenge and everyone living in this world should contribute to safeguard the environment. No national government, even that of a super power, no group of countries, even the richest ones, can meet these challenges alone.

It gives me pleasure to introduce an initiative which has principles to protect the mother earth, shares responsibilities with equity, care of human rights and believe in sustainable development. The Earth Charter is an international declaration of fundamental values and principles considered useful by its supporters for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. Created by a global consultation process, and endorsed by organizations representing millions of people, the Charter "seeks to inspire in all peoples a sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the human family, the greater community of life, and future generations." 

The Earth Charter has four principles which guides the decision making process. They are;

·         Respect and Care for the Community of Life

·         Ecological Integrity

·         Social and Economic Justice

·         Democracy, Nonviolence and Peace

The Earth Charter is an unusual document since it reflects a new, universally-shared level of understanding of the interdependence between humans and nature. It also corresponds to the stage of globalization at which we find ourselves. The Earth Charter text can be found here.

I would like to end with few lines from Earth Charter Preamble for you to ponder over;  

“We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future.

As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise.

To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms

we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny.”