It’s no secret: international efforts to curb global warming continue to divide Asia and Europe.
European and Asian governments did not see eye to eye at the climate-change summit held in Copenhagen last December, and as preparations intensify for another international meeting on global warming – this time in Cancun, Mexico - at the end of the year, prospects for a credible and enforceable agreement remain elusive.
Europeans are demanding a legally binding global deal on curbing carbon dioxide emissions while key Asian nations, including China and India, oppose any move which they fear could slowdown economic growth and development.
Curbing greenhouse emissions is arguably the world’s key global governance challenge. And the results of the Copenhagen summit, namely a voluntary goal of limiting warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and a pledge from rich countries to give about 25 billion euros in aid from 2010 to 2012, are clearly not ambitious enough.
For all their differences and public spats, however, Asian and European governments face a shared challenge: keeping carbon emissions as low as possible to prevent further environmental damage while, at the same time, creating the growth necessary to raise living standards.
It is imperative therefore to shift the focus from confrontation on achieving climate change targets to cooperation on developing a low-carbon economy. Such collaboration could be based on crafting new economic, technological, and social systems of production and consumption which allow for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining economic and social development.
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