Actually there is nothing strange in this observation by the United Nations where it says that the developed nations have failed to take lead in the recent climate talks in Bonn. Petty economic benefits have always been considered ahead of the bigger issues and still there is no sign of any improvement. In fact the developing nations like Mexico, India and South Africa have shown more interest in the issue despite their economic obligations. Most of the developed nations, led by the US are actually helpless in this regard. All the protective measures require some kind of restrictions towards the industry and these highly industrialized nations can’t really go against the big industrial houses. These are the ones who fund the electoral campaigns and so the governments think a hundred times before taking any decision that might hurt the influential business houses.
Developed nations also have a habit of pushing the blame towards third world nations. After playing these blame games for years ultimately we might find out that we are already too late!
It has been observed that the hike in crude oil prices has resulted in more interest in alternative and renewable sources in energy which might well be a blessing in disguise. So let’s hope that the sanity prevails and we get to see some realistic action. Most of present proposals are targeted at the year 2050 which is actually too far. Probably shorter targets will deliver faster results.
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I read about this very interesting study that calculates the carbon footprint of citizens of different nations and the findings were that ”in the U.S. people with the lowest energy usage, a homeless person, a five-year-old and a Buddhist monk, all have a carbon footprint twice as large as the average global citizen. This is because the services provided for every American, including infrastructure and public services, guarantee set a baseline that no American can drop below.
The carbon footprint of the low energy consumers were about one-third the American average. Americans are big foots when it comes to their carbon footprint. The world average is four tons; Americans on average consume 20 tons.”