In 5 years since world leaders met in Copenhagen to discuss climate change, the costs of extreme weather have rocketed, draining finances, reversing development efforts and devastating millions of lives. The BKM summit should be a harsh reminder of the cost of political inertia. The BKM summit is intended to build global momentum to tackle climate change, but expected announcements from governments and private sector will fall short of meeting the needs of hungry people and averting loss of lives.

I hope someone will define 'political will' and how it can be generated in this context.

world must unite to mitigate climate change impact now

Will the debate take place in this dialog box, or will there be a webinar to link to?

When we talk of political will in climate change negotiations, do we see a universal pattern or are developed countries moving ahead of the developing ones?

Will any discussion be made about the need for progress on loss and damages in Lima?

CAN BAN KI-MOON’S SUMMIT HELP BUILD A GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR CLIMATE ACTION?
I am dubious. Is it not a reality that the UN are under siege from private lobbies just as much as the world’s governments and as such pretty powerless?

This has been tried and tried again, remember Kyoto? Still climate scientists are shouting the same warnings only louder. Granted we now have Obama in the US but we also have China and India now in the equation and competing for the crown as the biggest polluters. I doubt that anyone is going to just stop the use of fossil fuels and cease so called progress when these nations are in effect competing.

Why not consider the real root of the problem?

Our current free market, debt based and consumer dependent economic system and our addiction to cheap fossil fuels is the key to this problem, no matter which way you turn it around you arrive back at the same point, the current economic structure needs continued growth and that means increased consumerism (with the happy consequence of increased population – more consumers) and that equals pollution and environmental damage.

The so called sustainable technologies that are needed to “save the day” are just not there yet (granted some are and others nearly there but nothing that is going to save the day) and won’t be until the price of extracting fossil fuels exceeds the price of sales (profits) and the price to the consumer (us) will in the not so far off future just go up and up until that bubble bursts or we run out of resources or we pass the point of no return for climate change or any combination of the above. There is progress in that sector but that has only come about because there is profit to be made, not because there is a real vested interest in bringing emissions down.

This problem is just so big and very wide reaching. To be dealt with in any effective way needs a whole restructuring of the industrialised world’s infrastructures, economies and politics, it is a global crisis that needs global crisis management. Global solutions for global problems. And to get any buy in to that needs a massive educational drive to convince us, the consumers that we are, are the key to changing things, each and every one of us as individuals, communities and nations. You can’t leave it to the politicians.

So in conclusion: I don’t think building a movement for climate action is perhaps the best thing the UN can do. Perhaps they need to look to and address the root of the problem and begin a massive campaign to educate the people of this planet about the real causes and get us to realize that it is us as individuals of the developed (industrialised) countries that have an ethical and moral responsibility to act immediately as responsible human beings. Do the right thing by the victims of our pollution who are already suffering and put a stop to this insanity. We can no longer be allowed to transfer our moral and ethical responsibilities onto governments who are powerless in the face of private global wealth.

Put People and the Planet before Private Profit and Power. Start with that thought and build a new model. It won’t be easy and it will take a fair amount of sacrifice on the parts of the industrialized nations. Surely it is worth it, for our children?