As we move towards COP15 in Copenhagen in December, I can’t help but feel that we may all be in for a massive letdown. ‘We’ in this instance are those like minded individuals (probably in the minority) that are increasingly concerned about our climate and the legacy that we will leave our children and grandchildren. ‘We’ are increasingly concerned around government’s, business and societies inaction in the fight against climate change.

It seems pretty clear now that Copenhagen will turn into a damp squib. COP15 has been a beacon of hope for many for the last 12 months but the reality is that it looks like it will be turned into a political grandstand rather than producing a solid climate deal with binding emissions reductions targets.  I really hope to be proved wrong.

My main angst however is geared towards corporates, particularly corporate South Africa.  If all the climate models are to be believed, sub-Saharan Africa is going to be one of the area’s most affected by climate change.  Expectations are significant average increases in temperature, significant reductions in rainfall and dramatic climate events when they happen.  You would think that with this as the future scenario we would be doing more about it and taking tangible action.  The reality, we aren’t!

Yes there is the odd company here and there that is making an effort to reduce energy and espousing green credentials and a desire towards carbon neutrality. Some of this is genuine, some of it is marketing and some of it is frankly ‘greenwashing’ in the worst sense.  What we need is systemic change in everything we do if we are to achieve reduction levels of 80% by 2050.  This cannot be an adaption from ‘business as usual’, this has to be a paradigm shift and it has to start now.

To paraphrase Clem Sunter, we have a high road and a low road.  The high road in this instance is a shift in the way we do business, conduct our private lives and ensure a sustainable future for ourselves and the planet.  This is probably a more costly and difficult road but it has to be done.  The risk of not doing this, rampant climate change, water and food insecurity, societal breakdown and mass conflict over scarce resources is frankly not worth considering.  The low road, our current path is easy.  Carry on with what we are doing using ancient carbon.  No modification to business and society and continue a status quo.  The problem however is that in this scenario, the risk is enormous and if we fail, we potentially fail as a species.

I wondered whether the title of this little ditty was ok but the reality is that I think it sums up the state of environmental negotiations, business and society at large.  We actually don’t really give a toss and the sooner we do, the sooner we can start taking some action.

Tags: Add new tag, climate change, cop15, copenhagen

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 1:12 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.