Climate Change Conference... And?

Delegates!

If I'm not mistaken (and I'm not; I just checked the news services to make sure), this fine November day heralded in the beginning of the UN Climate Change Talks in Barcelona. I'll admit that I'm not entirely sure what topics are on the agenda, but whether "Climate change and its effects on marine life" is on there or not, I advise you to follow the proceedings. At the very least, you'll learn about the (no doubt frustrating) process of conducting climate talks on the international stage.

Now, delegates, I hope this doesn't come off wrong, but I can't help but wonder: what is this all going to lead to? Will there be serious progress made in the dialogue of how to manage climate change problems, or will this all get bogged down in politics, misunderstanding, and, of course, money? Maybe I'm foolish to even think there's some sort of boundary line in there at all. But I just don't want to see the delegates convene this conference with high hopes, and then walk away after, not having reached any agreement. (At least they'll have another chance in "Round 2" in Copenhagen, come December.)

Speaking of not reaching agreements, member states of the EU were holding their own talks this week, in Brussels, all in preparation for the momentous event we've now come to. No doubt about it: that conference was all about the moola. Specifically, the topic of interest was that of aiding poorer countries in their green efforts. You know, when I at first was reading about this, I was wondering if any clear and direct proposals for solving (slowing?) our climate change problems were really getting put forward at all, but the more I thought about it all, the more I came to think that the EU was on the right track: by trying to determine just how much money this is all going to take and hammering out some concrete plans for allocation of funds, Europe is showing its dedication to finding a solution. There were some hard estimates floating around: one figure heard was that up to 150 billion euros will be required over the next decade or so for European countries to handle proposed massive undertakings. Unfortunately, what with various states pushing for exemptions, special amendments, and political 'issues', the EU member states came away after, not having decided an awful lot, except that they were going to leave this one to the "legal and technical experts". Hm. Okay.

I have hope for the talks currently going on in Spain. Already, we've seen (or at least, Associated Press tells me) a giant push for concrete commitments. China`s been lauded for specific measures it`s taken. The US is being pushed to commit to some definite actions and stick to it (somehow getting it all rubber-stamped by Congress). And as all we united nations work through this task of updating and replacing the 1997 Kyoto agreements, I think we`ll see some much-needed progress, if maybe only a little. But we`ll stay tuned.