|
|
|
 |
A
PONDERING PANDITJI |
|
Hey folks,
First, lets refresh our memory. In 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the world's governments had signed a pledge to prevent 'dangerous Climate Change'. In December 2009, the governments are meeting in Copenhagen to take stock of how far they have progressed on this front, that is, in cutting greenhouse gas emissions — the prime contributor to Climate Change. Have they been able to reduce use of fossil fuels at all?
Now, the current scenario. The planet continues to sizzle. In fact, as per latest data the CO2 emissions of some countries like the US have gone up! Why? Because the use of fossil fuels is closely linked with economic growth and lifestyle. As nations grow, their consumption of fuel — for transport, power generation and various other so-called ‘necessities’ of life — zooms up, too.
No wonder the ongoing Climate talks have turned into a tug of war between the developed (read rich) and the developing nations (ranging from middle-class to poor). While the rich (like the US) are unwilling to tone down their lifestyle, the developing nations (like India) are demanding their space to ‘grow’.
So the great Climate Row is heating up too. We shall keep you posted. Meanwhile, in this issue, we present some basic, must-know facts about Climate Change. Read up and wait for the next round.
– Pandit Gobar Ganesh
E-mail:
panditji@cseindia.org
|
|
|
|
