Those Who Doubt Global Warming Criticized by UN Secretary-General

"Let no one say we cannot afford to act," Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared today at the second meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, in conjunction with the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention, held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Kenya has already suffered the evidence of global warming, as I mentioned in my August 30 post. And yet, there are those who doubt that worldwide climate change is upon us. Alas, I live in one of the countries that have rejected the Kyoto Protocol, which requires 35 industrial nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent of 1990 levels by 2012.

The Associate Press reported today that Annan criticized the naysayers and slow actors, saying they are "out of step" and "out of time."

After his speech, he told reporters, "I would want leaders around the world to really show courage and to know that if they do, their people and the voters will be with them." To some degree, I’d have to agree. However, even if Bush changed his mind, I still wouldn’t vote for him. He has caused too much damage already.

Although the chief U.S. delegate responded to Annan’s comments, at a later news conference, that Washington has been a leader with "groundbreaking initiatives" on clean-energy technology, I believe it is too little, too late. The U.S. argues that reducing global-warming gases would set back the economy too much. However, at some point, we need to realize that our pocket books are not more important than the millions of lives, present and future, human and otherwise, that our actions will affect.

Annan contended that climate change "is not science fiction." According to the Associate Press, he referred to a recent British government report that projects the effects of global warming, including rising sea levels, droughts and other climatic disturbances, could cost up to 20 percent of the global gross domestic product each year.

"It is increasingly clear it will cost far less to cut emissions now than to deal with the consequences later," Annan said.

There is hope for the U.S.’s involvement in the future, however. According to Philip Clapp, president of the U.S. group National Environmental Trust, both Democratic and Republican hopefuls for the 2008 presidential election favor putting a cap on U.S. emissions.

For more information on this issue, check out these resources:

United Nations Climate Change Conference - Nairobi 2006
unfccc.int/meetings/cop_12/items/3754.php

Earth Share
www.earthshare.org/index.html

Climate Change information from the Council on Foreign Relations
www.cfr.org/issue/20/climate_change.html

Pew Center on Global Climate Change
www.pewclimate.org

An Inconvenient Truth (on DVD Nov. 21)
www.climatecrisis.net