Apathetic world leaders on climate change

It is a grave concern that though more than 60 world leaders are planning to attend the Copenhagen climate summit in December, the two top greenhouse gas producers, China and the United States, have not committed to attending it. China emits 20.7 % of global emissions while US produces 15.5 %. Heck, it may even turn out that no legally binding climate treaty may materialize at Copenhagen, according to the UK government at the Barcelona Climate Change Talks.

Apec leaders also could not, or did not, want to commit to any target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

If you read what the major world leaders from China, US, India, Japan, Africa have got to say about their obligations towards responding to the impending climate threat, it's obvious that they're pushing the ball to the other. The developing nations insist that the rich nations should take primary responsibility in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, while the rich nations say that the poorer nations should slow down emissions growth.

So, at the end of the day, it appears likely that the world leaders will just enjoy a cuppa, make brainless chatter, and emptier promises, then go back to their countries chopping more trees down for the sake of profit and power. And each will be solely justified in their thoughts because it is always the other (whether the richer or the poorer nations) who should be doing something, not them. Come the day when destruction really comes from a dying, abused earth, all the world leaders will still be pushing the buck over who should save the world. Or perhaps, they would just fight dirty to save themselves first.

The thing with climate change is that its effects are slow, though destructive. An average person eating breakfast at a mamak, staring at a computer screen all day, and battling the evening traffic back home, will not feel the effects of climate change. It's not the same as someone slapping you across the face. You feel the overwhelming pain immediately.

So, most people know in the backs of their minds that the earth is dying, but because they can't see it, they don't feel the urge to do anything about it. Countless creative design posters about environmental change will hardly change anyone's minds or lead to long-lasting actions, because humans forget important things so easily but remember trivial things like their spa visit this weekend. Instead of volunteering at a soup kitchen, I'd like to say "go recycle your waste or keep a compost bin in the garden".

Likewise, the world leaders don't feel the urge to do anything about climate change because they just don't feel it. They see that there is a global food crisis, partially caused by climate change, and sea water levels increasing, but they don't feel it. Perhaps when flood waters submerge the White House or reduce the Great Wall of China to rubble, perhaps then they will do something.