(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Sept. 25)

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Don't give up yet
Despite much hoopla surrounding this week's U.N. summit on climate change,
skeptics who maintain that the upcoming Copenhagen meeting will fall short of
creating a new U.N. climate pact appear to have won the day.
At the one-day summit, China and United States, who broadly represent the
interests of developing countries and developed countries, respectively, offered
little in the way of concrete commitments that could build momentum for the
Copenhagen meeting in December. The world leaders all emphasized the need to act
and offered new pledges for action - but no one came up with any concrete
numbers.
Chinese President Hu Jintao said that China would curb the growth of its carbon
dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by a "notable margin" by 2020 from the 2005
level, but did not give a definite figure. The fact that the emissions cuts would
be measured in terms of gross domestic product reflects China's concern that
carbon emissions reductions would slow down its economic growth.
President Barak Obama in his first speech to the U.N. General Assembly said that
the United States would press ahead with cuts in emissions to reach the goals
that it sets for 2020 and 2050. However, with the U.S. Congress yet to pass the
so-called "cap-and-trade" bill, specific numbers were not provided.
Korean President Lee Myung-bak said that Korea would declare its target emissions
cut for the year 2020 within the year. While Korea is not included in the Annex 1
of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change under the Kyoto Protocol and
thus is not required to declare an emissions cut target, it would move to do so
voluntarily, according to the government.
With the Copenhagen meeting drawing closer, the U.N. summit on climate change
showed that it may be overly optimistic to expect that a new climate change pact
can be reached by December.
The world is still split along the fault line between developed nations and
developing nations when it comes to taking actions to battle climate change.
Developed nations maintain that developing countries must also take actions to
curb carbon emissions. Developing nations have resisted mandatory cuts, arguing
that developed countries bear the historical responsibility for cleaning up the
environment.
With many countries in the world still reeling from the global economic downturn
that set in last year, governments may find it difficult to reach domestic
consensus on emissions goals.
However, all is not lost. China, for the first time, has publicly confirmed that
it will have a carbon emissions reduction target. The United States may still
need some more time before it can commit to concrete numbers - all its energies
are currently focused on the health care reform debate. However, Obama has
indicated that his country will take action to fight climate change, a turnaround
from the previous Bush administration which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol.
Governments can no longer afford to drag their feet when it comes to fighting the
very real threat of global warming. Already, numerous countries are experiencing
its impact - droughts, floods and extreme weather patterns.
Although the goal of reaching a new climate change deal in Copenhagen may seem a
little far-fetched at the moment - this week's U.N. climate summit showed that
countries still have some way to go - it should not be given up. Countries must
commit to concrete figures for carbon reductions and work out a way for the world
to share the burden in battling climate change.
(END)