Copenhagen, Cancun, Rio, etc are all very nice places to visit and to have a conference about climate change, reducing emissions and going green, but doesn't it sound just like a huge waste of time (and greenhouse emissions by all these planes flying to these conferences) when they never get to a binding agreement to be followed?
Some might argue that it doesn’t, because there is some forward movement and by discussing it, governments start to think about it. This is completely right, but on the other hand, I still find that if we rely on governments (which are protectionists of their own economy by design) we will discuss until we are wearing bathing suits inside a boiling swimming pool until we reach a binding decision.
And for you not to call me an half-assed problem oriented guy, here is my solution: get the biggest companies in the world (that are in one way or another already committed to get green) together and sign binding agreements about reducing emission, not buying from suppliers that don’t follow a certain standard, sharing green technology, etc. This would be a huge PR for those companies who opt in (gaining the consumer good will, thus the money on their wallets) and it could have a domino effect: once the big ones are in, the 2nd bigger ones have to adhere to compete, then the medium companies and finally the smaller enterprises.
Naive plan?
Climate change is about governance, it isn't about a few big companies signing a green agreement, it's about goverments and creating a world government (the UN). It isn't really about saving the planet for real, they know that it's a cherade a game. If it were really about saving the planet, this would be done by now.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I agree - in particular with the "this would be done by now". Economically, it is still very hard to move away from the fossil fuels.
ReplyDeleteI agree that governance needs to be taken (by government), but while governments stall, why not go the easier, faster corporate route? And let's not be naive, if big companies start lobbying for real about getting green, than governments would act. Money talks.