The significance of the Copenhagen Conference Essay

The significance of the Copenhagen Conference - Essay Example However the new Obama administration seems open to the issue. In the past, the US has treated climate change as a non-issue, focusing on it only during political campaigns. Presently there are signs that the US government might reconsider its hard-line stance on global warming. It had already agreed to cut its emissions by 17% in 2005. By the year 2030, US plans to cut emissions by 42% and 83% by 2050 (Broder). China is also one of the world’s biggest air polluter and a lot of pressure has been put on that country’s government to come up with platform to regulate the emissions that come from industries in China. China has already agreed to cut CO2 emissions per GDP unit by 40 to 45% by the year 2020 (Zhi Lin). The whole world certainly agrees that global warming needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. For instance the UK has already formally agreed to cut emissions by 20%. Countries in the European region also agreed to cut their emissions by the same margin (Bulow). As a result of global warming, the world is becoming hotter. The Polar Regions are melting and this in turn is causing the sea level to rise. It has been said that some islands might disappear if the situation is not addressed. Deserts are increasing and many people are going without water and food. This is not what the world wants, and the sooner this climate issue is resolved, the better it will be for everyone (Anup). The conference comes at a time when the world is hard pressed to address factors that have led to global warming and severe climate change in various parts of the world. If the world leaders come to a practical agreement, this could be a huge step towards saving the world from utter destruction. However the conference might end up like so many climate-based conferences before it, which did not produce any conclusive solution to the problem of