Beyond Kyoto
Picture a nation whose economy is largely built on the sale and refining of oil and must contemplate what will happen when the wells run dry.
Accepting as a given that the first priority is always the people, you would wish to keep them cool in summer, warm in winter, provide them with light and generate the energy to sustain a thriving economy.
Nuclear energy appears to be the answer, but with the power of that gorgeous and seductive genie comes a responsibility to all the people of the entire planet. Not everyone agrees with the concept of a UN/IAEA Planetary Guard with a mission to stand firm for at least two-thirds of the United Nations members on the issue of world nuclear safety, but would that mean we could trust it to the point where a simple oath in the name of God would suffice.
Iran believes it has been completely open with the IAEA as the IAEA, it is also believed, agrees. The world needs lubricants and petroleum for a great deal of its engines and machines, however the heating, cooling and provision of light for the vast majority of the Earth's people need not be a byproduct of fossil or nuclear fuels.
Nations where heating, cooling and lighting are required by their respective people and where hydro and solar options are impractical are increasingly investing in clean, safe, economical geo-thermal energy.
There are huge differences in the world since the Kyoto Protocol of 1997. With planetary energy issues in urgent need of being addressed, we need to make certain the 2005 Kyoto Protocol targets are being met and are on track to what has been ratified to be delivered by 2012.
Global warming is on the agenda at the current G-8 conference in Scotland and will also come under review along with other global energy issues at the UN three months from now as part of the United Nations reform proposals.
A united effort by all the world's nations into the viability of harnessing geo-thermal energy to supply the heating, cooling and lighting required by the world's people is urgently needed if we are to find, and agree upon the path beyond Kyoto.
GREG WARNER, Jakarta