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“Lot number COP15, Ladies and Gentlemen…” Global warming, animals and plants at a risk of extinction, water shortages, rising sea levels and the future of millions of people that are expected to be affected by a range of climate-related issues. “I have 25 billion dollars to save tropical forests on my left… 5.4 billion euro for short-term climate fund from the EU on my right…” “…Going once, going twice…” Think this is exaggeration? If you’ve been listening to the current media noise around Cop15 these past four days, this isn’t far off the mark. What should ideally be a meeting of nations to discuss concrete actions to curb global warming has turned into a cattle auction. This may all be part of the “normal” negotiation process but, as this extract from Kenyan TV would suggest, it does little to bring people together. This is in stark contrast to a recent poll conducted in France, highlighting what the French identified as a solution to the climate crisis: they called for a global collaborative effort involving governments, businesses and individuals, and contend that it’s only together that we will be able to effectively meet the challenges of climate change. Whilst we are indeed physically “together” in Copenhagen, the focus on money which has so far been demonstrated is shadowing the more inspiring, motivating subjects that would be less divisive. Things like the green economy, new job perspectives, future growth – the promising prospective that “sealing the deal” will offer. As governments muddle over the future of our planet and haggle over what’s a “fair amount”, we cannot help ourselves wondering where these big sums actually go. Do they directly influence business practices? Are they directly invested in foreign markets? Assist responsible projects? Fund the carbon market? And more importantly, will they help build a new, more sustainable culture? In other words, where is the Hope? A number of cases suggest that there are viable economic opportunities for a more responsible development. However, without an inspiring culture change, funding the developing countries on our current economic model is just not viable. And for the moment, this necessary culture change which is at the heart of the COP15 negotiations has yet to be put under the spotlight. There is, however, some cause for cheer amidst the auction-as-usual political spectacle: The massive popular turnout this weekend will be considered one big step towards truly transforming Copenhagen into Hopenhagen. Let’s hope there’s more of that to come.
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