And the “Understatement of the Year Award” goes to President Barak Obama of the United States of America for his closing remarks at the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, quote, We’ve come a long way, but we have much further to go,unquote. Much further to go?Try light-years. As negotiations wrapped up in Copenhagen, delegates of 193 countries found themselves presented with a 12-paragraph document dubbed the Copenhagen Accord--the product of two weeks of head-butting and political posturing. Unfortunately, the document falls far short--another understatement--of expectations.

Essentially, the agreement, penned by the United States, China, India, South Africa, and Brazil, acknowledges the imminent danger of climate change but requires little concrete action on the part of signatories to halt it as the document is not legally binding. Each country is left to volunteer its own goals for reducing carbon emissions. Not surprisingly, the figures submitted thus far prove insufficient to stop the rise of global temperatures by more than 2 Celsius over preindustrial levels by 2050--a key component of the accord. (Scientists predict that rising temperatures will cause more melting of glacial ice and a subsequent rise in sea level that could threaten the very existence of some island nations).

If the Copenhagen delegates had only had more experience teaching teenagers, they likely would have realized the futility of relying on volunteerism to save our giant greenhouse of a planet. Standing in front of a class of twenty students staring blankly at them in response to the question, “Who’d like to go first?” would have been enough to convince them that firm mandates are the only to ensure action.

Or, they could have paid a visit to Taipei, Taiwan. Citizens of Taipei are keenly aware of the effectiveness of legal mandates--coupled with fines of course. Taipei residents are required by law to sort their trash into compostable material, food for pigs, various recyclables, and actual trash. The policy has already substantially reduced waste on the island. This reduction represents a major improvement over the past when the practice of sorting and recycling was--you guessed it--voluntary.

Without strict mandates at its core, the Copenhagen Accord may not be making the world a much greener place. However, at the very least, Copenhagen has left the world with few illusions--the earth is getting warmer, the root cause is man, and industrialized and developing countries together hold in their grasp the power to affect substantial change.

All eyes are now on Mexico City, which will play host to another climate summit next November. Hopefully none of the participants will find their nations submerged beneath the waves of the Pacific before then.