2012: a challenge for the environment

2012: a challenge for the environment.

The last two years were disappointing with regard to the protection of the environment in the international relations. The conference of Copenhagen, and afterwards Cancun, didn’t reach the expected aims. Now, the governments must focus on 2012, an important year because of two reasons. Once due to the ending of the Kyoto Protocol and secondly to ensure that the summit of Earth of Rio next June will be a success.

The protocol of Kyoto, international environmental treaty, had as a goal the “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. If its targets won’t be fulfilled, the international community will be mainly satisfied by the progress done since 2005 (date of entering into force). However, next year the main obligations will disappear if no other convention is quickly ratified. This convention should be stricter than the first protocol, but the most parties will assure that it won’t due to the international economic situation. However not withstanding what the next protocol will contain, the most important thing will be to keep the obligatory force, make the United States enter and to consider the current environmental situation more than done in the Kyoto protocol (that did not take into account the international ravelling’s emissions and the shipping’s emissions).

Concerning the next summit of Earth, it will be time for the governments to discuss and listen to each other due to internationally respond on their capacity of taking care of the future of the planet. Since the convention of Johannesburg in 2002 the General Assembly announced three priorities:
- Renew the international political commitment for sustainable development
- Evaluate the progress and the remaining gaps of the implementation of previously agreed commitments
- Meet the new challenges that emerged

So, 2012, may be the most important year ever for the future of the environment; however there is a lack of information on these two important summits that a repetition of the same mistakes happening in Copenhagen and Cancun is probable: different visions of the environmental future that do not comply with each other.