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Doha talks invite the rich to simple reality


Another climate change conference started yesterday here in Doha. It has been given full ceremonial look by Qatar and the Qatar who took over the chairman's seat declared that this was a golden opportunity for the people to protect the planet earth.
Well we all appreciate Qatar's initiatives, and support its efforts therefore urge the high carbon producing nations especially the most industrialized nations to take the lead.
When the Copenhagen summit was held in 2009, I was in Brunei, and in that small country with about 300000 people, we journalists took special interest, reported and wrote opinions on the developments of the conference. Brunei with a small population and small in size,I appreciate its ruler's commitment to protect the country's forests. Its main revenue comes from petroleum but the country contribute its share towards carbon cutting effort. If a country reserves over 70% of its land cover for forests, it should be a genuine model of protector of the earth and the living beings, and Brunei's carbon production could be justified because it struggles to maintain a forest cover of 78% out of its land cover about 5000 sq. km.
At the end of the Copenhagen summit, selfishness won the day and the efforts failed. The result was disappointing, reported BBC quoting an economist Lord Stern. He said the Copenhagen summit was down to "arrogance" on the part of rich countries. This is another opportunity especially for such countries to revisit their positions and make a pledge to give the summit agenda necessary teeth.
After all the arrogance was responded by nature in many forms. Heat waves, snow storms, floods, and cyclones angered and battered many countries in unusual manner since the end of the Copenhagen summit. The Sandy was the last which destroyed life and property in America.
People need money, more money to live luxury and gain power, but what people should realise is that making money at the expense of the planet would not help them enjoy the life. Living being sustained on this planet since time immemorial, and they did not enjoy all the luxury similar to that of extravagance by the rich nations today.
The over consumption by rich nations is one of the reasons to the existing economic tumult, and if the same countries are not ready to save this earth, the destruction of the earth is not very long. The end of the world is not at the end of this year, it would happen one day, but it seems that the inhabitants of this planet themselves asking an advanced date.
Nature has given the man a thorough warning, it is reiterated day and night for all the stake holders. How are they going to enjoy the luxury and power they earned risking the planet if there is no safe place for them to stand on? They should be alive to make use of them, and to live a life we all need a clean earth.
Will the rich shed the blanket of illusions and walk towards this simple reality? Let's wait and see, the Doha summit will tell it.     


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