My diagram starts with Fossil Fuel Burning; this leads to two outcomes. The obvious gain here is Cheap Power/Energy. It is methods that we have used for a very long time. The industry is well backed and lots of research has gone into these methods. However, burning Fossil Fuels also produces Greenhouse Gases which is not good. It traps heat within the atmosphere which leads to Climate Change. Climate Change is an extreme issue that the world is dealing with right now and there are obvious signs that it is not slowing down. If we wish to live a sustainable life then all countries must begin changing their practices and moving towards more sustainable means of energy production. Climate Change ultimately lead to the Copenhagen Accord which was a proposal to move towards “cleaner” means of energy production. It heavily favored Developed Countries but is extremely expensive for Developing Countries. Change the infrastructure of a developing country can be extremely country, and these countries were showing lots of hesitation as there were very few gains for them in this. This is when the U.S. started bribing and even threatening these countries into backing the Copenhagen Accord. Countries that did not respond well to bribes were threatened and eventually accepted for what the U.S. was asking. These cables however were leaked and released through WikiLeaks. There was lots of backlash after realizing how many countries the U.S. influenced through bribes and threats leading to 140 countries backing the Copenhagen Accord. Ultimately it was an opportunity for the world to start moving towards more sustainable energy production methods but it was not done so in an honest way.

The State Department cables really brought to light how many countries the U.S. had influenced in backing the Copenhagen Accord. There is no doubt that Climate Change is a serious issue and the Copenhagen Accord was an opportunity to really start moving away from Fossil Fuel Burning and towards cleaner alternatives that exist today. As a Developing Country, to have laws laid down that force you to completely change your energy production model when you are trying to focus on growth in other areas can be a gigantic setback and you may not even have the money to do so. The U.S. recognized this and tried to gain support for the Copenhagen Accord by bribing and eventually threatening these select countries. This definitely was not an honest way to go about it but it is difficult to argue that it was not for a good cause. The other side of this conflict is whether the cables should have been released to the public. I do agree though that they should have. It’s important to highlight when things like this happen to prevent it in the future and maybe make negotiations more neutral to both developed and developing countries. When it comes down to it, Climate Change is a collective action issue and we need all countries to be moving towards cleaner methods of energy production.