trends and future of sustainable development - TransEco

Blair makes a division between developed and developing nations, recognizing their differentinterests. He also identifies China and India as special cases, populous nations growing so rapidly thatdespite their developing status their emissions are and will be significant in world's scale. Although thedivisive elements are present, Blair's speech strongly emphasizes the importance of unity regardless ofthe differences between North and South (and inside the South). For him, the crucial point of theCopenhagen summit is ”to make sure that everyone is on the train, going in the same direction”. Heattempts to identify with South, and overcome the obstacles.China's view of its place in the North/South map was an interesting question, as it has often beencategorized as a newly industrialized country, being in transition between old categories. Being the mostpopulous state in the world and having an explosive economic growth during the last 15 years (time scalethat equals with climate negotiation history) makes China a special case in the climate change puzzle.China's absolute annual emissions are largest in the world; yet its emissions per capita are far belowthose of most developed nations.China's view of its own position soon becomes clear: Wen mentions that ”China was the firstdeveloping country to adopt and implement a National Climate Change Program” (italics mine). Later itis also emphasized that China has 150 million people living below the poverty line and consequently it iscrucial to develop the economy and their livelihoods. However, there is a clear duality in China'sargumentation about its place in the North/South map. Other speakers, identifying with South, brieflytalk about their current emissions and mainly refer to the future framework, mentioning how theirfuture will be low carbon and that so far their emissions have been unsubstantial. China does not try toargue this way; by describing its ”intensive efforts in energy conservation and pollution reduction inrecent years” and ”unremitting effort” to fight against climate change, China admits its great share of theworld emission chart.As China conceives itself mainly as a developing country and a part of the South despite emissionscomparable with the Northern countries, it is interesting how it talks about future obligations and themost important principles of the possible accord. Wen states that ”developed countries must take thelead in making deep quantified emission cuts and provide financial and technological support todeveloping countries.” China is not the one that should then take the lead in emission cuts, but should itbe among the receivers of the North's financial and technological support? Wen's rhetoric is so equivocalit is hard to say anything about this issue. It can however be said that China prefers to place itself amongthe South, willing to be seen as the leading climate change fighter in that group.When looking at Zimbabwe's speech made by Mugabe, the difference, compared to other speeches, isremarkable. Mugabe is a strong representative of the South, unwilling to seek any similarities or positiveconnections between North and South. Mugabe starts by focusing on the South, his own part of theworld (in Mugabe's words). In the South, rains fail, land becomes lifeless, lands burn or drown in a tragicway. He paints a picture of the South with colorful yet desperate and frantic words.After this, Mugabe moves to paint the next picture of the North. He disapproves, maybe evendespises, the ”unfriendly model of development pursued by some of us in the so-called highlyindustrialiseddeveloped world”. The South's lack of trust for the North is perceptible throughout therhetoric. This attitude stems from historical issues, as the North has based its development on earliercolonial models, making the South suffer from poverty, and now even more so as the consequences ofthe North's development have become a climatic tragedy for those who are merely trying to rise from142