Lesson from World War II

Evil prospers when political leaders  lack convictionand make appeasing noises, as happened in 1938 when a lack of assertiveness and strong political leadership towards Hitler and Nazi Germany led to the the Munich agreement and the outbreak of World War II. Herein lies a lesson for the politics surrounding climate change.

The UK Energy and Climate Change Minister, Chris Huhne, said last week that world leaders opposing a global agreement to help prevent climate change, were potentially making the same mistake that politicians made in appeasing Adolf Hitler prior to World War II.

"This is our Munich moment" the Minister declared, drawing parallels with what was widely regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Nazi Germany, the 1938 Munich agreement. between Hitler and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.

Speaking at London’s Chatham House, Huhne made the extraordinary claim as he urged leaders to act now to avoid a global catastrophe that could bring a further rise in global temperatures, frequent natural disasters and unprecedented levels of famine and drought. (Source: www.climateactionprogramme.org July 2011).

His strong statement came in the wake of the devastation in Somalia, which is linked to climate change.

According to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon, global security is being threatened by climate change and is resulting in natural disasters, such as the drought afflicting Somalia.

At a UN Security Council debate on the links between global security and climate change on 20 July Ban-Ki Moon spelled out the risks associated with rising temperatures worldwide.

He said: “Extreme weather events continue to grow more frequent and intense in rich and poor countries alike, not only devastating lives, but also infrastructure, institutions, and budgets.”

Somalia is currently experiencing one of its worst droughts for 60 years. The UN declared that the country was in a state of famine, as around 3.7 million Somalis face a food crisis.

At the UN Security Council debate, Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner described latest findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The fourth assessment report from the IPCC in 2007 is based on the research of thousands of scientists worldwide and concluded that it was "unequivocal" that the earth is warming and that human activities play a role in this change.

Steiner said: “Among its many findings was that 11 of the last 12 years rank among the 12 hottest years on record.”

"There is a linear warming trend over the last 50 years of, on average 0.13°C per decade”.

On Thursday 21 Jul, John Vidal wrote about the increase in extreme droughts in Somalia on the Guardian website that they “... started having droughts every seven years; in the 1980s they came about every five years and in the 1990s every two or three. Since 2000 there have been three major droughts and several dry spells”.

International aid and donor agencies have been dispatching provisions to the area and calling for more money to be spent but Kevin Cleaver, Associate Vice President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) suggests that more can be done by governments and business in the interim period between extreme events to help developing countries.

He said: “Although governments and their development partners cannot make the rains come, they can mitigate the impact of these recurring droughts in East Africa by helping farmers and herders build resilience to these inevitable meteorological occurrences.

“Much greater investment in agricultural research, an area long neglected by both governments and donors, is essential to develop and diffuse drought and disease-resistant food and fodder crops which are better able to withstand moisture stress.”

However, political instability in Somalia and ongoing conflict make it difficult for government or businesses to invest and develop this industry.

Somalia has been without an effective and authoritative central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

Civil war, worsening and more frequent cases of famine and disease have left the country unattractive and difficult for investments to make a difference to the lives of Somalis.

In an interview with Reuters on Friday 22 July Kanayo Nwanze, director of IFAD, said: "This is a huge humanitarian crisis compounded by both man-made and natural disasters." (Source: www.climateactionprogramme.org, 23^rd July, 2011).

But back to Huhne and his Hitler-statement: Since the economic crisis of 2008/2009, the issue of tackling climate change has been pushed back within political agendas, with Huhne believing that leaders need to reprioritise the issue and double their efforts.

“From 2013, there will be new political leadership in the world's major economies. We hope to have put the global recession behind us. The stars may be more closely aligned in favour of a binding legal deal," Huhne said.

"Climate change is getting less political attention now than it did two years ago. There is a vacuum, and the forces of low ambition are looking to fill it. Giving in to the forces of low ambition would be an act of climate appeasement,” added Huhne.

For Huhne’s vision to be realised countries need to agree on whether the best solution for tackling climate change is either an extension to the United Nations Kyoto Protocol, which ends next year, or a new broader initiative.

As it stands the Kyoto Protocol only exists in developed countries, and with poorer nations stating that rich nations are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions, they are demanding an extension before they sign up.

However, other nations including Japan, Russia and Canada want to see a new more expansive resolution.

Huhne stressed: "We cannot wait for every country to become equal, because that would mean waiting for an eternity. At some point, we must draw a line and say: this starts now. This starts here,” he added.