A Glance at Summits Past and Canada’s Place at Copenhagen

This week, it seems as though the world is holding its breath for the Copenhagen Summit and whether or not it will produce the results long hoped for.  Leading up to it, allegations of climate change fallacies have surfaced, two of the world’s top oil producing giants have deepened their relationship and Canada has finally decided to step up to the plate.  As story after story is reported from Denmark, I’m optimistic that goals will be reached or, at the very least, strived for. At the same time, I wonder how such Summit’s were ever to succeed in the past.

Scandals seem to lurk over the shoulder of any good summit of importance, though have evolved with time from spy allegations to political corruption to the sexual behavior of the day’s notables.  So, why should this be any different? It may be the case that researcher’s had joined two data sets to produce easier to understand results, but it shouldn’t shut down the Summit, after all it’s December in Canada and I haven’t had a chance to use my snow tires yet – hard to deny that climate change is all wrong.

Secondly, the strengthening of relationships between states is hardly new and rarely judged.  In fact, it’s because of such relationships that trade can be profitable, migration improved and criminal networks thwarted.  However, being aware of ties between nations can be significant, remembering a certain non-aggression treaty that foreshadowed World War Two.  Today, therefore, watching Iran and Venezuela continue their charade…er,… I mean, relationship, stresses the need for alternative energy sources in order to avoid two of the world’s top oil producer’s (and non-democracies) from becoming too powerful, which in the current world order, is not manpower or weapons, but the control of natural resources, which enable us to sustain our quality of life and ensure our continuance into the future.

Enter Canada.  We are a nation, full of natural beauty and bounty which should be preserved, not only for the sake of nature, but for the sake of our own sustainability.  Now is the time to be investing in clean energy, exploring new technologies and promoting the way of the future, particularly at a time of rising unemployment.  The PM’s decision to attend the Summit, following the American and Chinese delegations, is commendable, despite his lack of enthusiasm for it.  It will be interesting to see whether Canada will make a valiant effort at Copenhagen to listen, to compromise and to evaluate the events, as a global player, instead of making a less than graceful exit à la UN General Assembly, back in September.

Whatever the outcome and commitments that are made in the next weeks, climate change is here to stay, as I grab my sunscreen and shades and head out into the vast wilderness of the Wal-Mart parking lot to pick up a Christmas tree.