Green Week in the EU and the Developing World

Green Week in the EU and the Developing World
The only issue bigger than the global financial crisis is the global environmental one. This past week in Brussels the European Commission hosted its ninth annual Green Week conference under the theme: Act and Adapt.This call to arms or to action in advance of the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change in December provided a potent reminder of the many ways in which politics can hamper development and if we accept that all politics are local then perhaps the global solution we are searching for may not be such a practical exercise.There were a number of takeaways from this year's conference. The primary and scariest realisation is that even as we force ourselves to consider 20% targets for 2020, the science of climate change has moved beyond that paradigm and requires deeper emissions cuts. But global politics means even as we bicker about how to do what might now be insufficient, we ought to be grateful that we have something at all.
Second there are two developing worlds, the first is made up of those "large destined to be superpowers" such as Brazil, China and India who will not slacken the pace of their growth for any reason. The second group which by dint of my own locality occupy much of my interest are the least developed countries, mostly small island developing states. For the former group it would seem that their actions will be centred on mitigation while preparing for adaptation, while for the latter adaptation seems the logical course of conduct.
Third, there is still no articulated position for the SIDs. While it is accepted that whatever contribution we have made to this environmental malady is nominal and that we will not be asked to bear the burden of emissions reductions, that responsibilities are common but differentiated, that something has to be done for us, it is still not clear what that thing is. It would appear to me that the reason why there is no clarity might be due to the fact that these countries do not have a voice of their own. In the one session which seemed devoted to this issue there was a noticeable laissez-faire approach to its presentation, its title was the loosely phrased "Cooperation with developing countries to tackle climate change". The true nature of that cooperation and how that cooperation will go beyond current ad hoc action remain remarkably concealed. Tellingly in a parallel seminar one could actually see the "Building of adaptation strategies across Europe", certainly a more concrete exercise in both name and nature.
Any adaptation to be contemplated by these developing countries is going to require the construction of adaptation strategies. And though I asked on mic and off I still have not had an answer for whether one exists. I believe we need to answer that question ourselves.