Sunday Morning (Dec. 13 2009), I was sipping black tea surfing over the headlines on Copenhagen meet when I overhear an altercation. Trying to peep through the trees onto the playground from my 2nd floor house, I managed to see 3 women fighting over who owns the branch of a tree that was ripped off a tree in my neighborhood to facilitate better street lights in the night.
What a contrast it was between what I was reading and what I saw. At Copenhagen- road to which took almost 2 decades- the divide between the developed and developing world seemed even more evident on who should bear the burden for global warming.
In developing countries like India, we as individuals have been made to use the resources to their fullest extent whether it’s sipping the last drop from a cola bottle or a glass of juice. We all remember the scolding from our parents on not completing the food on our plates. This seems quite unlikely in case of developed countries basis the feedback received from some visitors to my cousins abroad in US and Canada.
The kids are known to rip off the cap of a 100 ml mineral water can and even before they quenched their thirst (for a reasonably long time) the can is in the bin. Kids in developed countries are trained more on hygiene and lesser on how to appreciate the limited resources that nature has to offer us. The purchasing power takes over the constraints, quite unlikely in case of developing countries.
Developed countries who have grown enormous wealth over the decades are trying to put up their last fight by opposing to take on stringent emission targets since they have almost lost out on jobs and growth. Several articles in media over the last 2 weeks have put forth the case in favor of developing countries very well.
My only worry- We are wasting time and damage is irreversible. Max we can do by spending millions is delay the damage by few years.
Kids Wish you all a very healthy affordable lives.