Debating An Ethical Issue

It is 10 PM on Friday night, the final day of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali. Negotiations are still underway. The deadline of 12 noon has been passed, and the new deadline is now set at midnight.  

The expectation is that final agreement will be reached by midnight. It will then be printed up in the six official languages of the UN. Then negotiators will work to confirm that the final document says exactly what was agreed. 

UN Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, Yvo de Boer reminds that the process in Bali is unique. UN delegates are about to embark on something that the 190 countries in the past have been unwilling to take on.

After 15 years, the issue of deforestation will make it into the document.The fear of review of the adequacy of the Kyoto Protocol has been overcome.  A discussion is emerging in these final moments to shape climate change beyond 2012. The delegates want to assure that the Bali Roadmap will launch something here that is an honest response to the IPCC science … without throttling the economic progress of the developing world. 

It’s that last part that bothers me: “without throttling the economic progress of the developing world.” 

Yesterday, I spent a short time watching Indonesian TV. Most of the content was advertising. A steady stream of 3-5 second ads were selling viewers on a life of consumption that was similar to the U.S. Buy, buy, buy.  

Does development mean making sure that everyone has access to light, food, clean air and water? Or does it mean assuring that everyone has access to a junk food, cheap products lifestyle?   

There is an ethical issue here, that needs to first be addressed by the rich nations.  Do humans have a Right to Consume? Or do we have a responsibility to live in balance with the Earth?

Should we be listening more to artists and shamans … and less to those who view nature as a resource to consume? Tomorrow’s final report will answer this question, but not end the debate.