Copenhagen or Copernicus ?

As we are approaching the deal of our time, the one that can define the short-term survival of many nations, and the long-term shape of our species. It’s time to step aside of our daily routine and give all our attentions to what is going to happen in COP15 UN climate summit in Copenhagen on December 7th – 18th.

At first glance, things don't look great; Obama and other key countries leaders already announced that they weren't going to reach any kind of legally binding climate agreement in Copenhagen, declaring that they need more time. That's worrying as the human species are running out of 'tomorrows'.

Now, add one more thing. The difference between reaching an agreement and actually have this agreement entering into force. If we take The Kyoto Protocol as an example, we will notice that although it was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 it actually was just implemented on 16 February 2005. Unfortunately, for the Copenhagen agenda, time is not playing in our side.

The truth is the decisions (or the lack of it) made by those leaders will have a great impact on our future as humankind, in large part, determine whether or not the future generations will need to live in a world changed and self adapted to a new set of rules defined by the climate change.

So, as a fiasco in Copenhagen is not an option, the world trusts its democratic system and leaders to deliver the results that the human race is depending on.

For the first time, our whole concept of democracy is in check. Or so it appears.

Let me explain why by first clearing up the origin of the term (democracy) and its representation. The term is derived from the Greek: (dēmokratía) and means "the power to the people".

Although, it is well known that there is no collectively accepted definition of “democracy”, there are two basic principles that any definition of democracy includes: Equality and Freedom.

All citizens being equal before the law, and having equal access to power reflect these main beliefs. Therefore, if today we choose our leaders to represent and give us access to power, those leaders should also have that in mind and make our word spoken at COP15`s boardrooms.

If those leaders fail to deliver a real deal at the COP15, it will represent that the entire worldwide democratic system is unable to deliver outcomes and perhaps symbolize that actually democracy, as it stands today, does not clearly correspond to people’s wishes and desires.

So the next obvious question is: How can we (as a generation) influence those leaders to reach such an agreement at COP15?

From a personal standpoint, I do believe we need a global and peaceful mobilization in order to show that we want to be heard as individuals by each of our representatives. In actual fact, as I said, we can all spare time from our daily routine and get involved on various collective activities online (Hopenhagen.org, Greenpeace, 350.org...) and offline that have being prepared for Copenhagen conference.

In the end, we are deciding if our future will be in Copenhagen or at the plot (9.7N 20.1W 107.0) which is a prominent lunar crater named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, located slightly northwest of the center of the Moon's Earth-facing hemisphere.

As NASA was “kindly enough” to already find water for us in the moon, we will just need to bring up the rest (trees, other species, oceans, air, etc…). Very promising but I fear not in our life time.

So, Copenhagen or Copernicus? Your choice !