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“Climate Change will leave 5 Million Indian children malnourished,” screamed one Indian newspaper headline a week back while top global leaders were undecided what to do at COP15. A study on agricultural impact due to climate change projects that prices of essential foods would go up by 100% by 2020. Does someone care? Looking at the theatre of absurd that was played at COP15, I am left wondering if this was an economic summit trying to thrash out a deal for global trade rather than a summit about our very survival. Why is it so complex? Governments taking care of their internal audiences is ok, but taking this interest to aimless levels where no solution comes out is something that is difficult to understand. Enough is being said about the summit, the pros & cons, the deal makers and deal breakers. What is important from the street perspectives is the huge missed opportunity. Hope was dependent on intentions, on transparency, on shared vision, on cues from civil society and pursuit of the interest of the people. Hope crashed when negotiators across nations forgot what they had come to Copenhagen to achieve. While it is absolutely true that consensus on such a large scale will always be difficult and that agreeing to a shared action plan will take time, it’s also true that processes are only important to the extent that they’re stepping stones. Too much cacophony without substance brought the COP15 negotiations to an untenable pitch. Though media reports tell of an acrimonious and anarchic Copenhagen Summit, in hindsight it appears that there has been a method to the madness. From an optimist’s perspective, nations have moved some inches towards a future deal. Let the dust from the clash of differing viewpoints settle, and then the common ground would reveal itself & get its place in the sun. China, India and other BASIC countries made their non binding intentions clear, while the developed world declared their own set of goals. These disparate commitments, for all their flaws, made one thing sure: we will all look at the subject of climate change differently. It would have been good if tangible numbers and firm action plans based on common convictions had emerged from COP15 – but in their absence, we’ll take what we can get. A lot is being said about the Copenhagen Accord, how it was born at the last minute, how it’s surrounded by indefatigable drama; but what the pundits are neglecting is the plight of Hope, how it was shining and glimmering before 6th December 2009 and now finds itself looking for a resurgence of support. COP15 inspired our hope, but it didn’t necessarily deliver. Good thing we have another shot. Let’s finish what we started next year at COP16 – and let’s build an even stronger coalition of Hope to do it... so we don't end up like this:
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