Op-Ed: Time for
“Housecleaning” in Copenhagen
17/12/2009
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil
- Just over two months ago in Copenhagen, I enjoyed one
of the happiest days of my life when the International Olympic
Committee chose Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Summer Olympic
Games. I am now returning to the Danish capital for the
United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15). The IOC
event was the highpoint of Brazil's successful bid. For
the international community, it is the COP15 that marks
a crucial juncture in a long negotiation process. Every
day that we postpone the critical decisions before us, the
greater the damage to the planet's health.
While
some still question the criteria used in assessing the scale
of the damage, there is no disputing the gravity of the
accumulated losses and the real and imminent threat they
pose to humanity. Development and consumption patterns dating
back to the Industrial Revolution became globalized in the
20th century. In the 21st century, their disruptive legacy
is obvious in degradation that is not only environmental,
but also social and economic. The task of building consensus
and ensuring more balanced growth will require courage and
openhandedness, virtues that have sadly been absent from
this debate.
It
is therefore a cause for hope that over 100 heads of state
and government are attending the decisive moments of the
conference. Gathering such a significant number of world
leaders in Copenhagen is a good start, but clearly not enough.
We must all make concessions and sacrifices, avoiding backroom
maneuverings that only fuel suspicions and delay a final
solution. It is beyond doubt that both the benefits of economic
development as well as the costs of environmental degradation
over the last decades have been unevenly distributed both
among and within countries. While some profited and continue
to profit from the irrational exploitation of natural resources
and unsustainable levels of consumption, the vast majority
of the world's population has little to show for it.
As
if this were not enough, it is the poorest and most vulnerable
that have been hit hardest. The time has come to discuss
how best to share these costs and sacrifices. This means
establishing concrete "housecleaning measures"
to rethink the tasks and priorities ahead. It is time to
pay up. However, for lack of agreement, interest arrears
continue to pile up, leaving the coming generations to foot
the bill. We must deal with this matter in a timely manner
if we are to avert the environmental disasters that plagued
the 20th century and to reverse, with the help of modern
technology, the growing gap between rich and poor. This
will require taking to heart the universally acknowledged
concept of common but differentiated responsibilities. All
accept it in theory, but endless excuses, disagreements
and delays keep it from being put into practice.
Developed
countries can no longer avoid sharing in the costs and sacrifices.
Brazil believes that developing countries should equally
be part of the solution. We have therefore made a significant
offer at the negotiating table in COP15: an ambitious proposal
to reduce by 2020 national CO2 emissions by between 36.1
percent and 38.9 percent. We have also committed to cutting
deforestation in the Amazon by 80 percent over the same
period. This year alone deforestation of the Amazon dropped
45.7 percent by comparison to 2008, a testament to Brazil's
earnestness. These proposed reductions in emissions from
deforestation alone will be larger than those offered by
many developing countries in Copenhagen. Such glaring disparities
will have to be ironed out during negotiations.
Brazil's
successful experience in renewable energy - which accounts
for an impressive 47 percent of the country's energy mix
- compares very favorably with the global average of just
13 percent. In fact, large-scale use of hydropower as well
flex-fuel cars that run on sugarcane-based ethanol have
for decades helped Brazil fight global warming. Brazil's
use of ethanol fuel starting in the 1970s has alone avoided
800 million tons of CO2 emissions.
If
Copenhagen is to be a success, all must pull their weight.
This means avoiding the temptation to polarize the debate
along the North-South divide, or wasting time looking for
scapegoats. It we are to avoid such traps, we must focus
on identifying partners truly committed to working toward
common goals and leave aside jaundiced preconceptions and
vested interests.
My
conversations over recent months as well as the media coverage
of the first week of COP15 offer hope that the leaders gathered
in Copenhagen will have the courage of their convictions.
Let us rise to the challenge. As a politician and a former
labor leader, I am coming back to Denmark fully aware that
no breakthrough is possible without open dialogue and earnest
negotiating. I am prepared to engage in a frank discussion
with all those committed to finding meaningful answers to
climate change. The G-20's effective response to the international
financial crisis offers an encouraging example of how multilateral
dialogue can come up with solutions that avoid catastrophic
outcomes. Let us take to heart this inspiring example and
commit the necessary resources to fighting climate change,
just as we did to avoid the global financial meltdown.
The
time to act is now. Let us not waste the opportunity at
Copenhagen. Postponing hard decisions will only make an
already tragic predicament worse. Let us tackle it without
delay.
Do MMA