To trust or not to trust?

The article talks about climate negotiations that are currently been hold in Tianjin, China. The negotiation includes negotiators from more than 170 countries that got together with the purpose of finding a successor deal to the Kyoto protocol that will expire this year.  One of the biggest obstacles to a deal is China's behind-the-scenes obstructionism. China is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, and it has no interest in helping craft the next Kyoto protocol, mainly because a new deal would mean accepting limits on its CO2 growth. To top that, China plans to open a new coal-fired power plant roughly every month for the next decade.

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Another issue is the talks between rich and poor nations on who pays for measures to address climate change, including clearness about emission reductions and for the rich to do more about the subject. The negotiation between countries focus into “come out with a package of small deals on direct issue, such as co-operation on clean energy technologies and rewarding developing countries for not cutting down rain forest” (Coonan), by doing this, there might be a bigger chance of having countries help to reduce green house emission knowing that they would receive something back. The article then adds that last year China promised it would cut its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 from the 2005 level. Once again, that’s a promised that all countries are waiting to happen. Trust is something that needs to be present in each country in order to develop a clear understanding between them and to commit to the pledges they have made in Copenhagen. Governments of each country should focus on securing such pledges of the emissions cuts that have already been proposed.

Written by: Flor D. Medina Chavez.

Sources:

Coonan, C. (2010, October 05). China forum seeks elusive accord on climate change. The Irish Times. Retrieved from http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1005/1224280400360.html