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Yahoo!"I am confident that, as a service to our planet, you will strive for progress and positive results." When a statement like this is made by a United Nations official to an international crowd of thousands, one might feel some confidence that humanity is progressing toward caring for more than itself.
The quote is from the opening remarks delivered December 1 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, currently in session in Poznan, Poland, by the event's executive secretary, Yvo de Boer. For two weeks, climate ministers from 180 countries and close to 10,000 researchers, business people, NGO (non-governmental organization) representatives, and government delegates are meeting to work on a new international treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is intended to deal with the causes and effects of climate change and to limit greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. Next year's convention in Copenhagen will finalize this treaty. An official UN press release stated, "Professor Maciej Nowicki, Polish minister of the environment and president of the conference, warned that the planet had reached the limits of its confined system and that a business as usual scenario was not an option."
And yes, the carbon footprint of this event is considerable. The Polish government is offsetting all emissions associated with the conference that are not taken care of by the participants themselves.
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