Why the world must act on global warming now

• Countries cannot do much on their own because warming knows no boundaries

But it is becoming increasingly clear that individual countries cannot achieve much on their own. Global warming knows no territorial boundaries, which is why a global agreement is imperative.

At the same time, there are those poor countries which cannot keep pace with this search for new technology. There is great danger that they will sink deeper into poverty because they are not equipped to leap-frog industrialisation straight to the “green revolution”.

Accommodation

That is why the most vulnerable countries are seeking some form of accommodation during COP 15 – a fulfilment of what Mr Annan calls “climate justice”. Developing countries, experts concur, need at least $100 billion a year to mitigate the effects of, and adapt to, climate change.

The argument is that those most responsible for excessive greenhouse gases that depleted the ozone layer leading to global warming have a duty to help the rest of the world to cope with the effects.

To that end, even $100 billion a year cannot be adequate. It is upon countries like Kenya, which are already being buffeted by droughts, floods and food insecurity, to press their case in Copenhagen.

If they do not speak up now, there is no way they will cope with ecological disasters that will inevitably bring about a rise in lethal diseases and enduring poverty.