When it comes to challenging global issues such as climate change and sustainability, Philippe Peuch-Lestrade, Global Government & Public Sector Leader for Ernst & Young, believes a narrow economic focus is not the route to sustainable progress.
“We have come a long way, but we have much further to go.” President Obama’s comment at the conclusion of the Copenhagen summit on climate change neatly summarized the difficulty of dealing with complex global issues.
Let’s start with the bad news. More than 100 countries wanted global warming to be limited to a 1.5°C increase in global temperatures. But the system put in place is rather vague, simply requiring countries to submit their proposed emission cut levels for 2020 by the end of January 2010.
The second key objective concerned the fight against deforestation. Expectations were set around a 50% cut in deforestation levels by 2020.
The Accord is extremely disappointing on this matter: although deforestation is mentioned, targets are far from the ambitious plan originally envisioned.
The third key objective pertains to all climate change actions, as it entails setting up a framework to make the commitments made in Copenhagen legally binding.
The final draft of the Accord dropped all mentions of a legally binding framework, an omission which surely dents any idea of commitment to the fight against climate change.
But what about the good news?
The financial commitments allocated to the fight against climate change, is an important first step. The developed countries’ commitment has been increased to nearly US$30b for 2010–2012. And support for developing countries has been set to US$100b by 2020.
The weakness of the Copenhagen Accord can be directly linked to countries’ reluctance to think beyond money matters.
Importantly, this commitment is strengthened by the establishment of a dedicated High Level Panel, which will carry out advanced research to identify new and alternative sources of funding.
And in addition, the fact that so many world leaders came together to take this first step towards tackling climate change must not be dismissed. Citizen expectations are finally starting to be met, and their calls for change are so strong that they cannot be ignored.
There was massive citizen activism around the event, with Kofi Annan’s appeal gathering 11 million signatures worldwide. But in order to really make some progress it is crucial that we open our eyes to the wider consequences of failure.
The weakness of the Copenhagen Accord can be directly linked to countries’ reluctance to think beyond money matters. The reduction in emissions is seen as directly correlated to a fall in productivity and GDP, and the general mindset continues to put economic development before the safeguard of global security.
This narrow economic focus leaves us all blind to the bigger picture. If actions to combat climate change continue to be seen as adverse to economic development, then we are effectively choosing to disregard the real and serious consequences of global warming.
If we allow the situation to degenerate so that some countries are submerged by the sea and literally disappear, if water and food become so scarce that they turn into a source of conflict, then it will become impossible to ignore the risks and security threats associated with the ensuing mass migration and food and water wars.
