Negotiations and global cooperation may yet avert some of the dangers of climate change. That is the optimistic note on which the U.N. climate conference in Cancun ended.
The conference agreed to move forward on the development of a new treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. It also called for a global climate fund for developing countries and approved a plan to curtail deforestation.
These are small rays of hope in the face of growing danger signs, and continuing U.S. resistance to reform.
Recent NASA observations indicate that 2010 will be the hottest climate year on record. Nevertheless, for some political conservatives, it is an article of faith that global warming is either wildly exaggerated, a hoax, or nothing to worry about.
As a result of Republican opposition, legislation seeking to limit emission of greenhouse gases through a cap-and-trade system failed earlier this year. Efforts by the EPA to regulate such emissions is under attack in the courts.
The biggest challenge to managing climate change will be to rein in the emissions in China and the U.S., the largest contributors. The Cancun agreement doesn’t resolve these issues, but sets the stage for a treaty that may do so. For instance, it records the pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions that were made by President Obama and other world leaders at last year’s conference in Copenhagen.
With the Kyoto Protocol set to expire in 2012, the next goal will be to move toward a binding agreement that covers all major emitters, including the U.S. and China.
The success of the United Nations conference in Cancun makes progress toward that goal. It should alert environmentalists in the U.S. to the key role local politics will play in this effort. Without political agreement on the importance of curbing greenhouse gases, the U.S. Senate is not likely to ratify any treaty limiting U.S. production of them.
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