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Whilst many members of society have reported on the imminent climate change conference I thought I would throw my two pennyworth into the discussion. In my spare time from being a Toronto realtor, I enjoy deliberating and reading up on global affairs. A topic that holds my interest is the climate and its development.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference will happen in the Denmark capital during the first half of December. Climate Change mitigation is an grave issue to be introduced by participants attending the conference. The beliefs on climate change differ alarmingly so not everyone is starting this from the same angle. Thoughts are from one extreme to another.

When Barack Obama was voted president, many lobbyists hoped for a new day in climate change mitigation. What public is wanting to know is how can we move this problem forward. The Kyoto protocol was proclaimed as the way to advance at one time, but now even environmentalists are dissociating themselves from it.

The minimizing of emission rates approved back in 1997 (and never achieved) are about to be reevaluated. Established on GHG emission rates of 2005, individuals around the US president are asking for a further 20% decline by 2020. However, this is literally what Kyoto was about (getting 5% below 1990 rates). This lax stance toward the minimization schedule is being heavily criticized by some activists – as the mild conditions of Kyoto will effectively be loosened even further.

This concern is tied to another important area of conflict. The North believes Kyoto and expected environmental actions will have the largest impact on its economy, while the big polluters of the South (like China, India, Brazil and South Africa) will remain untouched. These southern countries are more influenced by climate problems therefore they believe the northern countries owe them. Northern countries accept that developing countries may need to produce higher emissions to literally fuel their growth (although some activists see such aggressive ‘slash-and-burn’ development as a dead end route anyway), but with the economic crisis and China’s emergence as a world power, countries like India and Brazil are less willing to make any sacrifices.

Another sensitive problem inside the anti climate change movement is relevant to the emission trade. Opponents to change see opportunities arising for scams and the black market, but advocates who are mainly government officials, believe that market rules could offset any adverse economic repercussions the restrictions could have. What they are desperate to see and calling for is the bulk of the power and control to be given to local communities, which should hopefully stop any climatic disasters.

The UN Climate change conference may produce some important decisions, but in my opinion they are probably not going to be anything spectacular. Having said all that, probably, the most important thing to come out of it all is the lobbyists are now getting together to try and make some changes. This can only be fantastic news as more voices come together maybe those at the conference in Copenhagen will pay attention.