Travel to Europe: Madrid, Barcelona, Europeanstreets: World conference on climate change

World conference on climate change – saving the world or more political babble?

Once upon a time there were a lot of important personalities of the international political landscape who met first in Rio de Janeiro (1992) for passing the first United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Later they assembled again in Kyoto (1997) for negotiating the famous Kyoto Protocol and showing the world how brave they all are. After that the conference was held in The Hague in 2000 where the negotiations were a complete failure. A lot of more important conferences then followed where everyone tried to be the hero saving the world. What will happen at this year’s world conference on climate change in Copenhagen? Will those strange men in their black suits finally reach an agreement or will they just continue waffling on?

Each day we can see it in the press: natural disasters, flooding, increases in the sea levels, the poles are melting, hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes. Nature seems to be going crazy, but we aren’t as innocent as we may seem. Although we think about acting environmental friendly as we go by bike to work instead of taking the car, we don’t really help very much our nature with our behaviour. At the moment there seems to be only two little devils in the world regarding pollution: USA and China. Both countries are competing for the title for who can emit the greatest quantity of carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere. The two countries produce together over 40% of the global CO2 emissions. Just looking at this scary figure makes it difficult for us to breathe!

And like in every bad Hollywood movie the villain denies everything and tries to escape secretly and silently out the back door. That was exactly what the USA and China tried to do at this year’s forum of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) where both states put the blame on each other and nobody dared to take the first step. The behaviour of the politicians was very similar to that of young children playing in the garden “Come on, you have to start, if not, I don’t want to any more”. Very embarrassing, isn’t it?

However, the debates are going on at full stretch in Copenhagen. And they aren’t really peaceful and pleasant. They are debating primarily about money and the level of CO2 emissions. The developing countries are apparently ignored and Barak Obama has to protect his new climate politics in his own country which criticizes and fears that its new president could promise too much at the conference in Copenhagen. As you can see, there is more aimless chatter on the agenda and a good and appropriate rescue plan for our planet seems to be very far away.

Don’t get depressed by those politicians and just try to be a good example for society. Although you may feel alone in this matter, each citizen of the world can participate immensely to stop or slow down the global warming. Don’t give up! What about some healthy and eco-friendly holidays in one of the most enchanting European cities? Rent the best apartments in Madrid and enjoy an economic and environmental friendly accommodation. Discover the green side of Spain!