15 Th WORLD CLIMATE CONFERENCE
COPENHAGON, DENMARK

-KARTHIK NARAYANA SWAMY






Climate plays a very important role in the vary survival of every living being in this earth.Agriculture, trade, technologies and all are highly depending climate. Crops should get rain at the right time for good harvest. Only when climate is in the right manner trade will occurs.Inshort our earth will be in a peaceful manner only when the climate is in a peaceful manner. Climate is the corner stone for the earth’s better survival. Many festivals were celebrated in accordance with the climate. In olden days people considered our earth as god. They prayed the trees, water resources such as ponds; rivers etc., here existed a holistic approach .That time our climate were in right schedule. And hence there were no climatic disasters on earth.

When years passed the wheels of development started rolling more. Peoples became greedy. They left holistic thinking and started thinking about themselves. The respect given to the environment decreased. When industrialization started peoples aims were only to make money. Also many industries started working and hence environmental pollution increased. Carbon emission increased. Global warming and green house effect became a serious problem to our earth. Green House effect is a phenomenon in which earth's atmosphere traps the heat from the sun & prevents it from escaping. The phenomenon is so named because earth's atmosphere acts like a greenhouse made of glass in which sunlight enters through transparent glass, but the heat released by plants in the form of infrared radiations is not allowed to escape. As a result of this, the temp. Increases inside the greenhouse. In a similar manner, sunlight enters earth's atmosphere and heats the surface of the earth. But certain gases present in the atmosphere trap the heat emitted by earth's surface & do not allow it to escape. This causes an increase in temperature of earth's atmosphere. This is known as Global Warming. The gases causing green house effect are called greenhouse gases. Carbon Dioxide, methane, ozone, and CFCs are the green house gases present in the atmosphere which are responsible for global warming.



Before industrialization the amount of green house gases was only 270 ppm and when industrialization took place it raised to 380 ppm.The increased amount of emission changed the face of earth’s climate. We can’t leave industrialization as it is the corner stone of development. Only thing we can do is to reduce the rate of emission. World countries realized the serious effects and they decided to solve the problem together. “If the climate was a bank they would have saved it”, said by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. As a result of this in 1992, a world climatic change conference was held on Rio-de-genero, Brazil.This was known as Rio-summit. But the U.S President George Bush (the senior) didn’t co-operate with this and hence the summit failed. Again after 5 years in 1997 another conference held at Kyoto in Japan. This showed a green flag. A protocol known as ‘Kyoto protocol’ was formed in this conference. Under Kyoto Protocol, by 2012 the well developed countries should reduce the carbon emission by 5.2 % less than 1990. Under the Protocol, 37 industrialized countries (called "Annex I countries") commit themselves to a reduction of four greenhouse gases (GHG) (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride) and two groups of gases (hydro fluorocarbons and per fluorocarbons) produced by them, and all member countries give general commitments. Annex I countries agreed to reduce their collective greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% from the 1990 level. Emission limits do not include emissions by international aviation and shipping, but are in addition to the industrial gases, chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which are dealt with under the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Comparatively the protocol was simple and agreeable. 187 world countries agreed with this but US was not ready to accept this simple conditions too. After 10 years in 2007, Bali (Indonesia) became the dais for the next conference. In this conference, Initial EU proposals called for global emissions to peak in 10 to 15 years and decline "well below half" of the 2000 level by 2050 for developing countries and for developed countries to achieve emissions levels 20-40% below 1990 levels by 2020. The United States strongly opposed these numbers, at times backed by Japan, Canada, Australia and Russia. There also no world countries didn’t reached at any solutions.


In order to take a good solution for the crisis world countries joined in Copenhagen last month (December 2009). This was popularly known as ‘COP-15’.Before the conference china, Brazil and India announced that they will decrease the carbon emission by 45%, 36%, 25% respectively. Where US announced that they will decrease the carbon emission by 17%. An American’s average carbon emission is 18% more than an Indian’s. But the report presented by Denmark for the conference was criticized by developing countries. They told that the reports presented by them were standing in the side of rich countries. Developing countries argued that developed countries can’t go under without taking the responsibility of carbon emission. Actually they were the real cause of the prevailing condition of climate. UN instructed the world countries to decide the year which density of poisonous gases reaches its maximum. Even If we reduce the amount of gas emission every year, the pollution will increase. By considering this it is instructed to decide the year which the pollution will reach its maximum. When it reaches its maximum it is needed to be decrease the amount of pollution stage by stage. World countries failed to create a mutual understanding regarding this.

Today world is facing the side effects of global gases emitted during the industrialization of developed countries. They have the responsibility to give new technology, new policy for the development of poor countries. Environmentalists tell that, it is danger if the temperature rose more than 4 degree Celsius than the period before industrialization. Global warming is increasing wildly and is very near to this. Earth quakes, draughts etc., were the warning signals of environment. Developed countries are not taking this as a serious problem. They were profit motive and greedy.

Developed countries tried to escape from the responsibility and they tried to make a solution which is favor to them. But under the leadership of India and china other developing economies strongly opposed this. And hence the meet’s tempo losed. Lastly Copenhagen also became a conference as like earlier held in Bali and Rio. But an accord known as ‘Copenhagen accord’ were prepared in the conference. The main points in the accord are listing below.


Ø There won’t be a new accord next year.

Ø Kyoto protocol that, by 2020 the temperature should not increase more than 2 Degree Celsius than before industrialization will exist.


Ø Along with this, in 2016 further analysis will conduct and tries to decrease the amount to 1.5 degree Celsius.

Ø US and other developed countries will try their maximum to decrease the carbon emission but this has no special circumstances.

Ø For installing carbon free technologies in developing countries US, Britain, Germany and other developed countries will contribute.

Ø The accord promises a mobilization of $100 billion in annual funding for developing countries to meet the challenges of climate change from 2020 and also pledges about $30 billion by 2012.


These were the main points in the ‘Copenhagen accord’. India became an attractive personality in Copenhagen. It stands strongly against the developed countries. The accord will not affect India badly. India has too many policies to wipe out the tears of 50 crore poor peoples. Accord will not disturb in executing these policies.

U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon said that, “The Copenhagen Accord may not be everything everyone had hoped for, but this decision….is an important beginning”. We can’t say Copenhagen meet is a collapsed one. It takes some important decision. But it can’t reach at the ultimate solution regarding climatic crisis. In Copenhagen the autocratic behaviour of developed nations were not minded by others. India became the leader for the developing and under developed countries.

We can see what will happen in future and how the accord will execute. One thing we all want to notice is that our environment is becoming more polluted day by day. We have to keep ‘sustainable development’. Because the earth is not made for this generation only. It is made for the next generations also. We want to keep something for the survival of the next generation. Earth is the basis for every thing. Only if there is earth we have life. So it’s our responsibility to keep, serve and save earth. World countries all want to develop but earth should be saved.

We can hope that the accord made in Copenhagen will execute without failure even there is nothing in that which can solve the problem fully. And also can wait for a successful solution on climatic crisis.









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References:-
Malayala Manorama daily.
The Hindu daily.