Bali, Jan 1 - Sukendra places fresh flowers on a small banana leaf platter, lights incense sticks and sticks them to the edge, prays for a few minutes, and keeps the platter on the pavement outside his home in this tourist paradise in southeastern Indonesia. He does this thrice a day, every day.He is one of 2.7 million Hindus in this Indonesian island who practise their religion more regularly than one would see in most parts of India. In any of the 11,000 temples, it is a fascinating riddle for an Indian visitor to pick out Sanskrit words in the local hymns and try to figure out who is being worshipped, as the deity is usually underground, out of sight except on special days.Indonesia has more Muslims than any other country in the world. Of its 245.5 million people, 88 percent are Muslims and a little over one percent Hindus.But the demography changes in the little island of Bali - 140 km from east to west and 80 km from north to south - where over 90 percent of its three million people are Hindus.The practices are a unique mix of Hindu, Buddhist, Javanese and local religious customs, started since Hinduism first came to this island in 400 AD, but developed after the Hindu kings of eastern Java - Indonesia’s main island - were defeated by a Muslim kingdom in the early 16th century and the entire court shifted to Bali.It was a bit of a special day in the Tanjung Benoa neighbourhood - a resident was moving into his new house. All neighbours were gathering at the local temple with offerings of fruits and flowers, and then carrying it on their heads to the new house.That action was at one edge of the temple complex - the main area was reserved for the stage where there were dancers, with an orchestra of xylophone players on one side.The fathers and grandfathers in the audience wore small white turbans - the colour signifying that they were going to the temple. The mothers and grandmothers were loud in their appreciation of one stylised movement after another.Down the road, Sukendra stood at the entrance to the restaurant where he works, trying to lure diners inside. The open-air walled-in eatery had statues of Hindu gods in prominent niches, all with offerings of fresh flowers and incense.He is a tourist guide during the day, with a special spiel for an Indian visitor. ‘I’ll take you to temples where you’ll be able to see how the culture of India thrives here.’It was thriving right in the middle of the holiday crush in Kuta beach, the epicentre of tourism on the island. As the tourists bathed, sunbathed, drank and shopped in the minutes before dusk, a large group of locals knelt on the sand, praying to Varuna, the god of the seas, as a bearded patriarch led the chant over a microphone.Source: http://www.earthtimes.org/
January 2nd, 2008
The world has taken an important step toward controlling climate change by agreeing to the Bali Action Plan at the global negotiations in Indonesia last month. The plan may not look like much, since it basically committed the world to more talking rather than specific actions, but I am optimistic for three reasons.
First, the world was sufficiently united that it forced the United States to end its intransigence. Second, the road map marks a sensible balance of considerations. And, third, realistic solutions are possible, which will allow the world to combine economic development and control of greenhouse gases.
The first step at Bali was to break the deadlock that has crippled the global response to climate change since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol a decade ago. This time the world united, even booing the US lead negotiator until she reversed position and agreed to sign the Bali Action Plan.
Likewise, the unwillingness of major developing countries such as China and India to sign on to a plan also seems to be ending, though considerable work remains to craft a global agreement to which both rich and poor countries can agree.
Doing so requires balancing many concerns. First, we must stabilise greenhouse gases in order to avoid dangerous human interference in the climate system — the key goal of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the global treaty under which the Bali negotiations took place.
Second, we must accomplish this while leaving room for continued rapid economic development and poverty reduction. Poor countries do not and will not accept a system of climate control that condemns them to continued poverty. Third, we must help countries adapt to the climate change that is already occurring and that will intensify in the future.
The Bali Action Plan addresses all three concerns. The plan’s main point is to establish an Ad Hoc Working Group to reach a detailed global agreement by 2009 that will set “measurable, reportable, and verifiable” commitments to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
Such commitments are to be taken in the context of “sustainable development,” meaning that “economic and social development and poverty reduction are global priorities.” The plan also calls for knowledge transfer to enable poor countries to adopt environmentally sound technologies.
The great question, of course, is whether stabilisation of greenhouse gases, continued economic development, and adaptation to climate change can be achieved simultaneously. Using our current technologies, no; but if we develop and rapidly adopt new technologies that are within our scientific reach, yes.
The most important challenge is to reduce, and eventually nearly eliminate, carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal. These fuels are at the core of the modern world economy, supplying around four-fifths of the world’s commercial energy. Such emissions can be eliminated by either shifting to renewable forms of energy or reducing the emissions from fossil fuels.
The key insight is that roughly 75% of our fossil fuel use goes for just a few purposes: to produce electricity and heat at power plants, to drive automobiles, to heat buildings, and to power a few key industries such as refineries, petrochemicals, cement, and steel. We need new environmentally sound technologies in each of these sectors.
According to the best economic and engineering estimates, if each key economic sector develops and adopts environmentally sound technologies in the coming decades, the world will be able to reduce carbon emissions dramatically for less than 1% of annual global income, thereby avoiding long-term damage that would cost far more. In other words, the world can combine growth with declining emissions of carbon dioxide. And rich countries will be able to afford to help poor countries pay for the new, cleaner technologies.
To reach agreement by 2009, we must move beyond current generalities by which rich and poor countries argue about who should be blamed for climate change and who should pay the costs. We will need a true global business plan that spells out how the new technologies are developed, tested, and adopted on an expedited basis world-wide.
We must ensure that all countries adopt a verifiable strategy for environmentally sound technology, and that rich countries fulfil the Bali Action Plan’s promise to provide “financial and other incentives” to enable poor countries to adopt the new technologies.
With so many crises afflicting our world, there is perhaps cynicism that yet another global conference did little more than promise to continue talking. But let’s see the positive message instead: 190 countries agreed on a sensible plan, and the underlying science and technology gives us realistic hopes for achieving it. There is considerable work ahead, but the situation is better as a result of the deliberations in Bali. Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and achieve what we’ve promised.
(The author is professor of economics at Columbia University.)Â
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
January 2nd, 2008