Comment: Losing Hopenhagen

17/12-09 kl. 13:11 Debate
Batzul Photo: Batzul Gerelsaikhan Batzul Gerelsaikhan is from Mongolia. She is studying for a bachelors degree in Economics at the University of Copenhagen, and has taken part in a number of events connected to the COP 15 climate conference

The voices of the developing countries are unheard at COP 15, writes Mongolian University of Copenhagen student, Batzul Gerelsaikhan, in a letter to the University Post

by Batzul Gerelsaikhan

I came here in Copenhagen all the way from Mongolia in January for my Bachelor's degree in Economics at the University of Copenhagen, so I had the privilege to volunteer and attend as many conferences and events as I can handle until this moment – IARU Int. Scientific Congress on Climate Change in March, Local Government Climate Change Leadership Summit in June, and Bright Green Expo during the COP15 this December to name the biggest.

Hence, I was looking forward to COP15 for a long time with a hope of seeing a 'sharing' mutual understanding between the developed and the developing countries, but to much disappointment, the gap between the two remained the same; and I have seen and heard only the voices of the developed countries, where they explained what they will do in the future and which new technology they will be using for themselves.

Climate refugees

No comments on how the developing countries are suffering from the developed countries’ 'mistakes' were said. Only China, India and Brazil were mentioned a bit, but surely they are not the only developing countries out there.

There are many developing countries like theTulun islands, for instance, where the people don’t even use cars, not even electricity, are facing the sea level rise, and they are estimated to be drowned down in 10 years, leaving its people to become refugees along with many other climate refugees in the world.

These developing countries are indeed the most innocent victims of climate change, and people are giving little (almost no) attention to these vulnerable countries.

The same mistakes again

So far, I have heard three Nobel Peace Prize winners, many royalty, PMs, MPs, ministers, governors and researchers speak of the dangers of climate change in the future; but why don’t they understand that the developing countries will be repeating the exact same mistakes they have taken, to become like them?

All this new technology and renewable energies are economically very expensive, for some countries too expensive, or more like impossible to get; hence we’ll keep using the old technologies with not much choice, unless the developed countries are willing to give a hand and help us jump the polluting steps of becoming a developed nation (and no, we are not talking about “$10 billion to Africa” kind of aid, we know you spend trillions for your defense, when you’re not at a war!).

So the question is: how willing are the developed countries to help tackling this climate issue they’ve created and how willing are they to help others who are suffering from their mistakes?

Mere talk is not enough

I’m surprised to see that people find it so shocking that G77 and China leave the conference in midst of it; that protestors stand outside Bella Center in this freezing weather,and that Obama chooses to get his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo rather than coming to Copenhagen immediately to help solve this issue.

Those people want an immediate action and not mere talk – since time is running out. Also, it is becoming clear that COP15 is most likely to fail like Kyoto protocol, because like mentioned above there are no mutual bindings between the developed and developing countries.

Whether it’s 2 degrees, or 1.5 degrees, it is important that countries should have a differentiated responsibility for each of their actions, since it is not fair for the developing countries to pay a tax for the C02 they haven’t created.

Hopenhagener

Hopenhageners like me, however, are still hoping that politicians can break the wall between the rich and poor like Germans did to its Berlin Wall. After all, we are all the same and everybody will be affected more or less on this one planet by this climate change.

It is only matter of time when we will all finally realize that sharing is the best solution now. If we fail to do so, it will be even more expensive and more impossible to reach any goal we’ll set in the future.

Batzul Gerelsaikhan, Mongolia
Dec 16, 2009

6 comments

Write a comment

27/06-10 kl. 07:36 Enghebatu:

It's great to read your letter.
I absolutely agree with you.
You represented developing countries

24/12-09 kl. 23:27 Batzul Gerelsaikhan:

Thanks for the wonderful approving comments, but i just read this exciting side-angled article, which tells a complete different story than mine; and you should all check it out! After all this is a debate, right?

There's always a two-sides of a story, and it's your choice to decide which seems right. Real talks are always closed and politics can be really confusing, hiding the truth...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/22/copenhagen-climate-cha...

But again, even if it's true, China would be considered way more developed than other poor developing nation, so the real poor countries' voices are still unheard...and this is where we can see the real nature of the International Relations, where the super powers decide all.

18/12-09 kl. 13:45 Michael:

We've participated together with Ms. Gerelsaikhan in the Energy Crossroads "Changing the Game" game back in November when i was studying in the University of Copenhagen on a Medical faculty. And had an impression that politicians are simply afraid of speaking about developing countries, about problems they are facing, meaning problems than 2/3 of global population are facing nowadays. I do clearly remember the uneasiness that was caused by Ms. Gerelsaikhan's question upon situation around developing countries, upon the gap between two worlds. Not mentioning that this question was left unanswered.

18/12-09 kl. 10:37 Lhagva:

I am not following the COP 15 but I am hoping the leaders make clear resolutions with immediate impact and demonstrate it globally. Its a real issue and its knocking our doors. Who is to blame when Ulaanbaatar runs out of fresh water and our forests are gone?

18/12-09 kl. 03:17 Mergen:

i cannot agree more. behind you 100%

18/12-09 kl. 00:16 Delgernaran:

I saw documentaries about those sinking islands you just mentioned. Most developed nations live in an artificial environment. If it gets hot or cold outside they just adjust the room temperature... They never feel the impact the same way those island people do.

Ms.Batzul speaks the truth about how developing nations in the future will end up the same as modern developed countries. It is necessary for developing nations to alter their development to a more eco-friendly manner. It might be just possible with the aid of developed countries with their superior advancement in technology. From seeing the latest news, it seems it ain't likely to happen in the near future.

Peace

Join the debate read rules for debate here.
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.
Feb2012_OM_10
07/02-12 kl. 12:14 Campus

See the new internationals at orientation meeting

Despite cold and snow, many new international arrived at the orientation meeting at KUA to get important information and for friendly networking. We have captured the event in pictures.

See also:
Gallery: February Orientation Meeting
See the pics from the first orientation meeting here
Gallery: January Orientation Meeting
Gallery: New international students at Science
Ana Mosneaga3
07/02-12 kl. 06:00 Politics

Universities struggle in ‘brain game’

New research looks closely at Danish universities’ policies to get more students from abroad

See also:
Students stay if they have a job offer, love
06/02-12 kl. 09:17 Politics

DPP: Foreigners should be put out of shelters

As shelters overflow in the freezing weather, the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party wants police to make sure illegal immigrants are not taking up space

Evangelos
04/02-12 kl. 06:00 Politics

For Greek student, there is just the pizzeria

Evangelos, a Copenhagen graduate, wants to make a living in Denmark. Going back to crisis-ridden Greece is senseless. But the ‘networking’ here is also proving illusory

See also:
Students stay if they have a job offer, love
3feb-orientation-3Gallery: New international students at Science
AnaMosneaga2012
03/02-12 kl. 06:34 Politics

Students stay if they have a job offer, love

Choosing to stay in Denmark is choosing a new identity, home, status and life stage. So what on earth is going on in international students’ heads? And how does the economic recession affect it?

See also:
For Greek student, there is just the pizzeria

Subscribe to newsletter

Photo story: Down in the animal laboratories

There are between 30,000 and 50,000 animals at the Faculty of Health Sciences, all used for experiments. Our Danish colleagues in the Universitetsavisen were given an exclusive tour of the facilities

Are experiments on animals justified?

War of the Wardrobes: Boston vs. Copenhagen

New international students are our troops, defending Copenhagen's honour against a US challenge. See them square up in our fashion contest War of the Wardrobes


Kontakt redaktionen

Write us an e-mail: uni-avis@adm.ku.dk

University of Copenhagen
Nørregade 10
1165 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Tel. +45 35 32 28 98

Copyright 2009 © Universitetsavisen.ku.dk