I Don’t Need to Rule, But Our Leaders Do

Maggie Comstock
Associate, Policy
U.S. Green Building Council

Editor's note: We are proud to announce that our staff blogger, Maggie Comstock, is a finalist in the Rio+20 Big Blog Off! Vote for Maggie so she can win a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to blog for World Environment Day on June 5, 2012.

As any pageant queen could tell you, the winning answer to “If I ruled the world” is something BIG. If I ruled the world…I would cure cancer! …I would end all world hunger! And, of course, …there would be WORLD PEACE!

Unfortunately, I am not a beauty queen and I am far too practical for overly idealistic goals for my world domination. But if I ruled the world…there would be policies in place at both the local and national levels of government that promote the green economy and sustainable development in an economically efficient and socially appropriate way! (Though, I’m not sure if I would win the interview category with that answer.)

We have the power and the tools already at our disposal to make the 2000s a sustainable century, though time is of the essence. We need to move quickly in order to get our carbon emissions in check and to stabilize our greenhouse gas emissions below the scientifically recommended 450 parts per million (ppm) and, ideally, get them down to the 350 ppm figure supported by vulnerable geographic regions for the best chance of survival. This is completely doable through international cooperation at Rio+20 in June and the Conference of Parties climate change negotiations in Qatar in December. However, there are a few points of context needed to understand what UN delegates are up against and why action on climate change hasn’t been realized already.