Today 56 newspapers in 45 countries are running the same editorial calling for action during Copenhagen’s climate change summit.
Our own Toronto Star is running the editorial – written by staffers at UK’s Guardian in consultation with 20 other rag – including esteemed papers such as Le Monde in France and Israel’s Maariv.
The editorial offers a unified – albeit vague – conclusion: “Kicking our carbon habit within a few short decades will require a feat of engineering and innovation to match anything in our history. But whereas putting a man on the moon or splitting the atom were born of conflict and competition, the coming carbon race must be driven by a collaborative effort to achieve collective salvation.”
This supposes that newspapers working for one cause – running the same editorial – will inspire politicians to do the same. It’s wishful thinking, but you can’t fault the newspapers for trying. After all, a “global” editorial of this nature can give the impression everyone is on the same page (bad pun, I apologize).
Then again, it’s simply a business decision between a few dozen publishers. The statement means well, but can it really make an impact in Copenhagen? Will the politicos be reading any of these papers while they’re holed up in meetings and catered lunches?[rssbreak]
