The modern world is different, we are told. Communications, ever freer travel, information technology and the imperative of climate change are creating a global consciousness in forging a global solution.
In a race for global survival, the small nation state has found it has a role to play despite its meagre resources and lack of clout. Forested countries can choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution. Guyana chose the latter.
This is the globalizer’s world view. It is the language of the economic pundit and western finance minister alike, and should have been the shared assumption at Copenhagen early in December. The dignitaries were expected to tut-tut over the unwillingness of some countries to rein in harmful emissions and worry about the copy-cat trends in new economies, but they only promised to do something about it. We expected that anyway, but we also expected more. At least we were spared the advocacy that the whole argument for climate change mitigation is based on an incorrect premise. The belief that small states are helpless before the ravages of global warming and climate change and must depend on timely and costly interventions by the industrialized world has finally been laid to rest. The opposite is now true and David can save Goliath. The mitigating capacity of small forested developing countries is a new and important phenomenon, but stops a long way short of convincing the developed world to pay for it. There is a fundamental distinction between recognizing the role of forested nations in keeping the earth alive, which is exactly what has been happening for a very long time, and compensating for this service. And there are very different political considerations. A system must be found which enables the forested countries that clean the air to deal bilaterally with the planet’s profligate polluters in the industrialized countries using the financial mechanism made possible by trading carbon at the terminal market.
Yours faithfully
F Hamley Case
