The United Nations just announced that its next year-end climate change meeting will be held in Qatar in 2012. COP 18 (as the common title) will present another round of talks for nations towards climate change mitigation and adaptation. The COP meetings are important in these times where increased weather deviation and desolations are linked to climate change.
This year’s COP 17 is ongoing in South Africa and points of discussions are global climate change funds, deforestation, carbon trading, carbon credit and technology transfer. A global harmonized climate change deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol was a target of the meeting after COP 16 but this target will be set again for COP 18.
A legally binding agreement for nations at COP 18 is very unlikely as the closet target set by some major emitters is 2015. This and loads of reality on ground should have made the United Nations hold COP 18 in 2013. 2013 for the next COP meeting would have made the parties at the present COP 17 take talks more seriously and 2012 will just be a year for small regular meetings for regions and nations with possibility for a deal in 2013.
COP 18 if for 2013 would have coincided with the period of release of the fifth assessment report of the IPCC (Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change). The next COP meeting in two years would have sent more seriousness to the talks and engage reality more than these routine talks that follow similar pattern yearly.
That said, COP 18 is already set for 2012 so plans and possibilities for that event can be laid from now. The ongoing COP 17 is a foundation and talks there centers on a global climate change fund to help the developing world for climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Developing a framework to access this fund is cardinal to most developing nations but this should not be a problem in itself. The source of the fund is primal ̶ either governments of developed nations or the private sector ̶ once it is available, disbursement should not be an issue since military assistance, aid and more given in the past gets to their ‘destination’.
Developing nations and their developed counterparts should worry more about options available for the whole climate change thing. Weather anomalies of recent times have been troubling in most parts of the world, for climate change or not, options are needed if it gets worst in coming years.
The world is tilting towards energy efficiency, environmental possibilities are also considered for building and infrastructure; these options by nations are directed at safety for their people and the world in entirety. Another option considered for global warming is geoengineering ̶ manipulating the earth climate system intentionally for global warming.
Several options exist for the UN and all the parties to the climate change convention; these options are usually dodged when it comes to national reality but to pass as blame for others is simply achieved. The climate change issue is tilting towards insignificance for challenges that are biting this present world.
Ozone layer depletion is another issue with rising and falling stability amidst the Montreal Protocol, Ozone Layer Geoengineering (OLG) a developing research work, sends an option to recover it when needed. OLG unlike other geoengineering procedure like the SRM ̶ Solar Radiation Management ̶ does not have fears of unintended risks and possibility of being misused.
OLG presents to inject oxygen gas to depleted parts of the ozone layer to join in reactions and turn out to be ozone for protection against harmful Ultra Violet (UV) rays. This option may be needed in nearer than projected time and will close depleted parts of the ozone layer as desired.
There are options for global warming and ozone depletion in this present world albeit too-much-knowledge seems to be hindering agreement. The world is more afraid of economic problems but when in future ozone depletion and global warming pose risks undoubtedly; most options that are to table today will probably be adopted.