Issues and Challenges Leading up to COP-15: The U.N. Summit on Climate Change

Niels Christian Nielsen [Chair and CEO, Qnet]
Abstract:

The diplomatic and political process towards and through CoP 15 is
complicated not only by the obvious and well known divisions between the
West and the Developing World and between the EU and the US. We see serious
divisions of interest within the EU and obviously within the US. We see
bifurcations between the Bottom Billion countries and the high growth
developing nations; between the very large developing economies as China,
India and Russia on the one side and the Western incumbents as well as
between the large economies and the smaller. There are new alliances and new
conflicts, and there are alternative paths to solutions. The picture is
further complicated by diverse, but very active interventions by large
corporations, business communities, lobby groups, NGOs and grass root
movements. How we deal with the climate crisis is highly impacted by the
effect of additional, urgent and interconnected additional global crises:
finance, water, security, food, health, and poverty. What is at stake is not
only the issue of a new and adequate climate treaty which will impact the
future of man kind. We are also witnessing and participating in a process
that is likely to result in major global reallocation of wealth, jobs,
innovation and quality of life."

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• CITRIS
• UCB
• Research
• Technology
• Science
• i4energy
• climate