Thought for Copenhagen
Hey, its Jeff here =)
So what is my message for Copenhagen? Do I push for more radical changes than the ones proposed? Do I shout that the leaders were wrong to give up hope of a legally binding protocol to replace Kyoto? Or should I just leave a message of support for what is, to be honest, relatively a big leap forward?
Now I, for one, am not one who wishes to impose thoughts to people; I’m not exemplary at argueing and forcing an opponent to concede. Instead, I prefer to listen and think, to reconcile and negotiate, to question and reason. Diplomacy is my forte and I have to say, I sympathise with the negotiators for actually getting as far as Copenhagen, it already represents a significant shift in collective thinking. ‘Tis an arduous task, one that people have staked a lot on and I believe it is rather unfair for people to clamber and shout for more. No challenge of this magnitude has faced us before, no endevour as harrowing, no leap as daunting. Naturally, this has evoked fear and suspicion, ‘tis but human nature for there to be dissent and questioning; after all if we all thought alike with one mind and no difference in thought, what would that make us?
I respect that there are dissenters of this cry for change; men fear what they do not know. They have the right to question the evidence, to criticise the paucity of facts, to deny the nostrums presented to them. Such vigourous clamour encourages us to really see if we are right, to ponder the vicissitudes in opinions, to wonder if we are chasing but a chimera, ever enticing us and drawing us in. We are all the better for this diversity in thought. Alas, too often this criticism rejected, reconciliation withheld, dissent denied.
Therefore, my message to Copenhagen is simple yet complicated: listen and reconcile, hear and debate, take in and elucidate. Hear out what people have to say, both advocates and detractors of climate change negotiation and use reason and emotion albeit in small quantities for emotion. We are trying to upturn the established order, to uproot the tree of presumed knowledge, to evict the entrenched thought. Too often do environmentalists drown out criticism with utter disregard for the perception of arrogance; to presume that we know better and that society has to change in their mindset is to assume that we are superior and in the right. But are we now? Nothing is ever certain, no knowledge is supreme so how will we know if we are right? This, of course, is rather epistemological and not appropriate here but we should always ponder this.
Finally, we should also be grateful for getting this far in negotiations, Kyoto may not have worked but it was a step. Copenhagen shall be another step on the road to a fairer and more equitable world, a road that will be harrowed by challenges but they will be ones that are of benefit to the world. We have a responsibility to the world and our fellow human; we have to respect the planet and people’s opinions. An abdication of either responsibility would be woeful indeed.
I wish the best of luck to our delegation and I hope they take onboard my rather long message and hope we all bear it in mind that we should listen.
