by Eddy Teng

Created on: December 11, 2009   Last Updated: December 12, 2009

Greenhouse AD-mission - A Joint Responsibilty 

It is indeed encouraging to note that the hype surrounding the issue of greenhouse gas emission has certainly raised the public awareness considerably. The ongoing 15th Conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen is another attempt to agree on the ways and means to prevent the gradual destruction of the world and of mankind, through the cutting down of greenhouse gas emission. Much hopes have been placed on this platform to  thrash out a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

The Copenhagen summit is billed as the biggest climate meeting where 15000 people from 192 nations are attending.Big countries like the US and China ( the world's two biggest polluters )have pledged to cut down 25 % on emission.The European Union has vowed to reduce its emission by 20% from 1990 level before 2020, rising to 30% in the event of an international agreement.Japan has offerred 25% while Australia will cut 25% from 2000 level by 2020.

Are these percentage cuts on the greenhouse gas emission a political gimmick or serious figure to contend with in the first place? The pertinent questions often raised by most skeptics are : 1) Do these nations face strong objections from the industrial and agriculture lobbyists as well as the oppositon parties?  2) Do these govenments have the political will to carry out what were promised ? The G77 bloc which consists of China and India plus other developing nations are very vocal and worried about the attitudes shown by developed nations. To the G77, the percentage cuts for developed nation should somewhere be 40% or more. They insisted that financial assistance shall be extended to developing and underdeveloped nations to bring a more meaningful cause on the geenhouse issue.

Let us turn to the other side of the poor nations. To the poor living in some developing and underdeveloped nation, the climate talk has little meaning, much less the subject matter itself. Many of them are undernourished, starving and helpless. What is another flood or drought to them? Their main concern is the daily survival of life.Hunger and poverty are ever persistent worries on their minds. Therfore, the leaders of these poor nations have to juggle their administrative policies and focus more on the social economics issue rather than the environmental issues so as to avoid being accused of championing the global cause but neglecting their own backyard. As a result,

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