UNF C C C: Cancun, Contradictions and Contrast

Posted on 01. Dec, 2010 by annac in United Kingdom

We live in a world of many contrasts. Some say it is this contrast that makes our world understandable to us. Would we know good if we didn’t have bad, rich if we didn’t have poor, warmth if we’d never felt cold?

Here in Cancun on the second day of climate negotiations we are faced with some pretty stark contrasts. And in these contrasts things that once were ambiguous, once were hidden, once lost in the frenzy of the UN have suddenly become clear, become glaringly obvious.

First there is the contrast between the two venues these negotiations are taking place in. For the first time the negotiations have been split, with NGO stalls and side events in one location and the actual negotiations and media in an entirely different location - 7km away. The NGO space is a huge grey soulless hanger air conditioned to the max with a few hundred people floating around in it. The negotiation venue is a 5 star luxury hotel with lavish terraces, ornate ceilings and fancy restaurants, where hundreds of people are packed in and are milling around. In the contrast between the two we see how important civil society voices really are to these negotiations, how much they really value what we bring, how much energy they really put in to our participation.

There is also the contrast between what countries are saying in the negotiations and what they are doing to take action. In the opening plenary many countries took to the floor and spoke of the impacts of climate change that the world has felt this year. Record temperatures, freak weather incidents, floods, fires the list went on and on. Yet they continued their speeches with weak promises, political wrangling and tit for tat, no one wants to do more than another, positions. In the contrast we see where the problem lies, not with a lack of understanding, not with a lack of urgency, but with a lack of priority. Those making the decisions simply do not think that this is the most important issue they are dealing with. The economy, unemployment, national security, these are all prioritised over taking action on climate change.

The final contrast is in Cancun itself. It is essentially an American town, where sweeping broad roads, fancy air-conditioned hotels and steak and lobster grills are interspersed with shopping malls brimming with brands and perfectly manicured lush, green, grass verges. Contrast this with the rest of Mexico, with family run cantinas, with shops with identity, with houses designed to keep cool without air conditioning. Contrast Cancun with this and in the contrast you can see the root of the problem. The desire for more, the desire for comfort beyond contentment, the desire to get ahead, to be the best and to show it by consuming, in the contrast the problem needs no other explanation.

In the two weeks of negotiations we have here we must live with these contrasts, we must face them everyday, we must confront what they mean. But that is ok, because it is only by acknowledging a problem that we can begin to work to fix it. So if these contrasts make the problem easier to acknowledge, then maybe we can start to make some progress here in Cancun.

Tags: Cancún, Cancun Messe, climate, COP16, featured, Moon palace, UNFCCC