This week in Bangkok the UN sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is telling the world that efforts to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases over the next two to three decades will largely define the long-term global mean temperature increase and the subsequent climate change impact on the planet. Gathering hundreds of climate scientists, economists and diplomats, this panel is finalizing a report to propose policy decision-makers the best options for curbing those harmful emissions. See more details here and here.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in the capital city of the world wealthiest and largest producer of greenhouse gases, and during the recent US-European Union Summit, George W. Bush finally recognized that climate change was a problem which is related with oil dependency and there was a need to address greenhouse emissions. But officials in backstage say that nothing in fact is expected to change, at least in this presidency. (See additional info in this article). However, he insists that the best way to address the problem is investing in technology, while accepting caps would damage economic competitiveness. Differently from the EU countries, Japan and many others, he US refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, unless developing countries such as China and India would also join the curbing programme. In the Kyoto Protocol compulsory cuts of emission are only applied to developed countries.

Is there any hope of persuading American politicians to go for more consequential and responsible efforts regarding greenhouse emissions? Some voices within the Democratic Party that recently took control of both houses of Congress express hope that climate change and environmental issues might gain a momentum. Still, confidence is not in abundance. Public opinion should be the driving force for change, but the issue seems to be exactly the lack of support from citizens at large. According to a poll recently carried by the Pew research Center, the report suggested that among five Americans two consider global warming is caused by human activity, and only one was personally worried with the problem. See more details here. I hope for change to come sooner...