A Christmas of Uncertainties

Christmas celebrations are as many and as different as there are diverse cultures in the world. It is the strongest tradition among Christians because it is a re-enaction of the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God. If Jesus Christ died on the cross to save mankind from all its sins ( against humanity), then his nativity proclaims the existence of hope amidst all the ills that plague the world.

In the beginning of December this year, two important events took place that would have significant consequences for everyone. First, is the Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia - which purpose was to secure a majority consensus to a successor pact after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The Kyoto Protocol aims to fight global warming, yet 16 of 36 industrial countries have problems with their allowable carbon emissions.

United States has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, saying in 2001 that it was unfair to exempt the developing countries from targets. (Kyoto obliges rich nations to cut greenhouse emissions by an average of 5 percent by 2008-12 from 1990 levels, but allows them to pay developing countries to cut emissions on their behalf through a trade in carbon offsets, according to a Reuter news.) The carbon offsetting scheme is called Clean Development Mechanism, and is seen to suit both the rich and poor countries because it makes it cheaper for rich nations to meet their targets while helping the poor nations to curb their emissions.

Failure to reach a new international consensus implies a catastrophic scenario for the world in terms of droughts, floods, heat waves, diseases, melting of glaciers and the rise of the sea level. Although the Bali conference ended with some optimistic note, one remains sceptical if national interests are not overly served in the face of a general outcry for a common solution to a pressing, and all too real environmental issue.

The other event of significance to Europe in particular was the summit conference in Lisbon, Portugal between European Union and Africa Union. It was an important meeting that was put on hold for several years because EU had no common approach to Robert Mugabe's reign of terror in Zimbabwe. But Mugabe's grandstanding against the imperialistic West should take a lesser priority in the light of an urgency to bridge the relation gap between EU and Africa. Just now, China has advanced its claim on Africa's natural and cheap human resources for its own expanding economy, while EU seem content and assured that its colonial ties with the continent will hold. It is a wrong assumption to view Africa as a continent in perpetual want of aid, neglecting its potential for growth and self-development. Perhaps it is time to treat Africa as a matured individual and not one with a crutch to be led on.

While the world grapples with very serious and urgent issues such as armed conflicts going on in at least 32 countries in the world, we take a brief Christmas pause to look at our inner world, the family because it is the very core of the Christmas spirit. When we continue to remain a family that values love, respect for traditions and morality then there is meaning in Christ rebirth and renewal. #