Will our planet be helped?

Four more days to the end of the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and the tensions must be growing. A lot has been written and talked about this conference and still we don’t know for sure if we are going to get a Treaty worth of its name. Never mind that in spite of those who don’t believe in the danger our planet is, many of them being in the US and acting for pure political reasons, we know that two generations on or before the Earth will be in grave danger unless we do something now. But getting so many leaders to agree is not going to be easy. As Chancellor Angela Merkel from Germany said last week, “I can tell you now, it will be a turbulent week. It will be extremely complicated. And it will not be a tension-free process.” Because it is not only the agreements on how to lower the emissions but also the agreements on funds to help the developing nations. EU leaders have agreed to provided those countries with an annual assistance of $3.5 billion (2.4 billion euros) from 2010 to 2012. This money should be used to help with the effects of climate change and also to combat global warming. The US has yet to take a position on long-term financial assistance. And then comes the pledged amounts offered to reduced emissions. While the EU have offered to reduce them by 20 percent by 2020, and even to reach 30 percent were other countries to join them, the US is offering to lower its emissions by 17 percent. So when President Obama arrives to Copenhagen, he is bound to encounter some resistance never mind how well crafted his speech at the summit is.