An Icelandic volcano erupts causing among all, conspiracy theories about reducing the CO2 emissions in the atmosphere and cooling off the planet. For those with short-term memory, let me remind you what happened some months ago. Perhaps there are other issues that we should eventually take more seriously, rather than unconfirmed stories on global warming slowing.

Denmarkhosted the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) which took place at Bella Center in Copenhagen from the 7th to the 18th of December, 2009. Should nations fail to tackle the issue, giant mirrors in space, artificial trees and other so called “geo-engineering solutions” will be the only way to prevent disastrous overheating of the planet, the researchers warned.

Accepting his Nobel Peace Prize, U.S. President Barack Obama urged leaders to confront climate change and warned of dire consequences if the world did nothing to curb rising carbon emissions. However, The United States is the world's No. 2 emitter of greenhouse gases after China, and the only developed country not in the existing Kyoto mechanism to lower carbon emissions.

A crucial issue which needs to be addressed but doesn't get as much attention, is the impact of global warming on poor economies and developing countries. According to the BBC, American researchers found that across the African continent, conflict was about 50% more likely in unusually warm years. “They suggest strife arises when the food supply is scarce in warm conditions”. Therefore, UN figures showed that in Sudan and Darfur 200,000 people have killed and forced two million more from their homes due to climatic factors. This seems to be the first clear evidence of a temperature link. Another example is Peru’s Andean region conflict over water; water and food prices are expected to rise steeply, as natural resources become scarcer and this will increase hunger and malnutrition.

Developing countries made it clear that they will not agree to an emissions-reduction package without substantial help in coping with the increased flooding, drought and disease. The COP15 leaders had to discuss about how much money to put into helping African countries prepare for and adapt to impacts of climate change. On December 8th a draft agreement which had been discussed some weeks ago was leaked to the Guardian, the British newspaper, causing a disruption. The draft agreement that emerged in the conference prompted an angry response from developing nations. The agreement differed from the Kyoto protocol's principle that rich nations -which have emitted the bulk of the CO2- should take on firm and binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gases, while poorer nations were not compelled to act.

Others seemed quite skeptic and didn’t want to take this conference seriously. Lord Christopher Monckton, former policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher and purveyor of the notion that the Copenhagen is certain that man-made climate change does not exist. In the same framework, a CNN poll showed that only 45% of the 1041 American adults surveyed on December believed global warming was a proven fact and mostly caused by human activity, down from 56% in October 2007.

The deadline for saving the planet from harm was dramatically spelled out at the Copenhagen climate conference; if we are not making drastic cuts in pollution by 2020, costing everybody on the planet up to £150-a-year, we have virtually no chance of limiting temperature rises to 2C. “We need a climate treaty which will survive recessions, elections, and natural disasters. Not a piece of paper that will be forgotten after the next change of power in London, Tokyo or Washington”, said the leader of WWF’s global climate initiative, Kim Carstensen. 5% global emissions cut every year is the maximum even the most ambitious green campaign. It would mean big changes in power generation, more renewable energy like wind farms and solar energy, nuclear power, using biofuels, and driving electric cars.

The question is who gets to pay what, and how. To what extent will obligations under the Kyoto protocol be reapplied beyond the developed countries to developing ones? The United Nations estimates that the fight against climate change may cost about $300 billion a year in the long term. Disputes over who should pay are one of the main causes of friction at the U.N. talks, along with splits about how far developed nations should cut emissions by 2020.Can there still be a deal?