Climate change is dominating the international news this week, as the UN prepares for the start of an international climate change summit September 23 in New York City. The massive subject of has been discussed at length on the international stage for well over a decade and the conversations among politicians are stagnant. Every time a climate change summit begins the same boiler plate talking points are revisited, and delegations resolve to come up with actionable changes the next time around. However, rarely does significant change occur, for the following reasons:

Costs

Climate change is a costly problem. In order to mitigate carbon emissions, corporations must overhaul their normal business practices, and governments must rethink entire codices of environmental regulations. However, the implementation of lofty environmental goals takes time, money, and research that profit driven entities do not have the patience for. Politicians in the developed world rely on
the economy to sustain reelections, and many would not dare to defy or disrupt the private market for the sake of the international community.

Disproportionate Impacts

The harshest affects of climate change are currently being felt by the poorest countries in the world, who rely mainly on farming for subsistence. Rising sea levels threaten to swallow entire nations, droughts and storms wreak destruction, and saltwater seeping into the water table poisons crops. Meanwhile, larger, industrial nations are not dependent on weather patterns as much, so when there are devastating disasters, it is easier for these wealthy nations to absorb the adverse impacts and rebuild infrastructure. Therefore, many large nations do not see global warming as a threat to their existence, but rather an annoying problem that makes summer too hot.

Accountability

Although an international problem, global climate change inspires many world leaders to point fingers rather than take charge. The small nations beings walloped by the adverse affects of climate change clamor for help, but nations with the largest carbon footprints either hide behind disingenuous science or simply ignore the calls to action from the global community.

The Long Term Planning

Citizens of the globe have a distinct disconnect from the impending reality, an inability to think in terms of long term planning. Since the reality of climate change has not fully precipitated yet, it is easy for people to ignore the evidence, and casually joke ‘so much for global warming’ every time there is a chilly evening in July. Until citizens of the globe realize that humans are animals that interact with the global ecosystem, rather than supreme beings chosen to lord over the environment, and grasp the looming consequences of wastefulness, pollution, and the general disregard for nature, their leaders will continue to act accordingly.