A spokesperson for President Obama said of the agreement that was made today (but has not yet been signed by the 193 nations attending, “It is not sufficient to combat the threat of climate change, but it’s an important first step.”
Yes, any long journey begins with a first step, but so much more could have should have been accomplished. Maybe the perfect is the enemy of the good, but this doesn’t qualify as “good” given the accelerating changes the climate is going through.
I guess it will make some countries feel good enough, but many will leave Copenhagen discouraged and – soon – desperate to defend their people from impacts that can fairly be blamed on the carbon emissions of the rich nations.
So now, as WorldChanging’s Alex Steffen tweeted from the scene last earlier this week, “Lack of action is a de facto decision to pursue lifeboat regionalism.” If the collective world leadership can’t make any definitive moves for saving all of their citizens, then individual countries, provinces and towns are going need to build resilience for themselves.