Obama envoy warns of 'no deal' summit
Negotiations for the Copenhagen meeting are going 'too slow'
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Talks to save the world from the catastrophic effects of global warming may fail, President Obama's climate change envoy said last night.
Todd Stern told Channel 4 News that pre-summit negotiations had been "too slow" and warned that it was "certainly possible" there will be no deal at December's Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen.
"This is a tough negotiation. What we need to have happen is for China and India and Brazil and South Africa, and others, to be willing to take what they're doing, boost it up some, and then put it into an international agreement – where they're standing behind what they say, just the way we're standing behind what we say we're going to do," he added. He was speaking on the eve of crucial talks in London at the Major Economies Forum, which represents some of the world's biggest polluting nations and which today begins trying to resolve disagreements ahead of Copenhagen.
A major stumbling block preventing an agreement is about where the money will come from to pay to help developing countries go low-carbon – which could cost $100bn (£61bn) a year by 2020.
Months of talks have failed to break a deadlock between developing nations, which blame the West for creating the problem, and richer countries uneasy at the prospect of footing the bill to help poorer nations go green.
Much is at stake. Unless a deal can be reached, many millions could go short on food and water, or find themselves battered by storms and floods on an unprecedented scale. Rising sea levels would submerge entire islands, such as the Maldives; with the death toll from climate change approaching hundreds of thousands a year.
Speaking to the IoS yesterday, the Secretary of State for Climate Change, Ed Miliband, echoed Mr Stern's fears: "We are very close to a deal not being done at Copenhagen. But it will be a tragedy if the world fails to act." He has urged delegates at today's talks to put their differences to one side: "With only 50 days to go before the final talks at Copenhagen, we have to up our game. Britain is determined to throw everything at this because the stakes are so high."
But the deal is already surrounded by red tape – negotiators at Copenhagen will have just five days to try and cut through 200 pages littered with around 2,000 disputed sections.
While governments continue to talk over the details, there was little sign of hesitation among hundreds of climate camp demonstrators, who began a weekend of protests yesterday in an attempt to shut down a coal-fired power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, near Nottingham. Police held more than 20 people prior to the protest on suspicion of conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass. Further arrests were made when a perimeter fence was breached.
Goals – results of failure
1. Developed countries to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, failure will take the world into dangerous and catastrophic climate change.
2. Developing countries to limit growth of carbon emissions or face famine, droughts or flooding.
3. Fund to help developing countries create low-carbon economies, with no aid, some will have little chance.
4. Make the latest green technologies available in poorer parts of the world to help reduce pollution.
5. Reduce deforestation, responsible for a fifth of the world's carbon emissions, otherwise 85 per cent of the Amazon rainforest could be lost.
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Comments
Obama’s upcoming acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize and the invisible strings attached to it, may prove to be an enormously expensive exercise for all taxpayers on this continent. The “Copenhagen” supporters on the Nobel Committee, on the other hand, are counting on it.
http://pacificgatepost.com/2009/10/obam
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At its best this could be a temporary solution.
What we need is a new technology that would reduce CO2-emissions to null. Technology that would be viable for the next centuries.
Then we either need cheaper batteries or fuel-cells.
Both technologies are already mature, but hardly cost-effective considering the relatively low price of oil.
Biofuels have resulted in higher food prices and destruction of precious rainforests. This is obviously NOT a good plan!
Batteries and fuel-cells will only surpass chemical fuels when their energy content per kg overtakes that of chemical fuels sources
When measures would have been effective, nothing was done by the clowns and criminals that constitute governments. Now it is too late to prevent climate catastrophe occuring, perhaps as early as 2020.
The good news is that although nations will not negotiate the substantial cuts to emission necessary to prevent complete planetary meltdown at the coming talkfest, peak oil will cut energy use (and will cut the world population: people who are starving don't breed much).
The bad news is that people will probably chop down more trees when they cannot afford oil or obtain it.
The even worse news is that the global dimming (from industrial pollution) that has been ameliorating global warming will probably decline, leading to faster warming.
In other words, we were presented with a beautiful planet to live on, but have more or less completely wrecked it as a consequence of stupidity and greed, particulalry corporate stupidity and greed.
I wonder why? Could it be the fact that, for the third year running, there have been signs of an abnormally cold winter across large parts of the world. Last week 20% of the entire US was covered in snow. It is the greatest October snow cover the country has known for many years. Similarly unseasonable snowfalls blanketed central Europe and the Alps. Freak October snows caused traffic chaos in New Zealand. Hundreds of Tibetan herdsmen had to be rescued when blizzards swept their summer pastures weeks early. Last year's October snowfalls in the US broke records which in some cases had stood for over a century and America had its coldest winter in decades. This summer's Arctic ice-melt stopped nearly 1 million square kilometres short of its record low in 2007. Around Antarctica this year's sea ice-melt was the lowest recorded since satellite data began in 1979, leaving the ice 30% above its 30-year average.
So, the future of the world is going to be decided in a couple of days in Copenhagen by the Monster Raving Warmist Loonies' Flying Circus? Cut me just the tiniest break!!
Since the Yanks are too poor to import anything any more and are therefore of no further use to the world economy, the rest of the world should slap punitive pollution taxes on what remains of Yank exports. Won't cut emissions? Fine, we'll cut them for you. No more exports of bombs, guns, gas-guzzlers, passenger aircraft, or your GM wheat and corn. No more exports of crap movies, crap music, crap telly. No more exports of toxic assets and dodgy derivatives. The rest of the world can shut down what's left of the Yank economy until the bums learn to behave.
'Talks to save the world from the catastrophic effects of global warming may fail, President Obama's climate change envoy said last night.
The good news is that the talks will fail, not that we'll be gobbled up by some hell like furnace racing across the countryside.'
And then -
'....negotiators at Copenhagen will have just five days to try and cut through 200 pages littered with around 2,000 disputed sections.'
Not surprising that there are some disputed sections !
And more ...
'Britain is determined to throw everything at this because the stakes are so high.'
Well, the third rate country that we've come to recognise as Britain is bound to try to make something of a stand in any forum which presents itself. It's always something of a coup to be seen to 'leading the world'.... Now where have I hread that before ?
Of course, the whole concept is related to HOT AIR (in one form or another).
Just by way of balance perhaps readers may be interested to read the stuff at
http://www.climatesceptics.com.au/
Then read the banalities from Miliband again.
Our own politician have shown their hand & are the proverbial 'busted flush', I suspect they are a worldwide phenomenon & the trust we show in them is quite honestly embarrassing. The agreement will ensure that more taxes & more public money is poured into the hole named climate change, more taxes on travel, more taxes on utilites, but importantly more taxes on systems that might just help (a little bit) if the masses could actually afford them, & somehow thats logic??
If you want to understand our part in the general scheme of things go to the coast when there's a sea swell & watch, it's almost like nature says to you: anytime, anytime I want & yet we in our arrogance somehow feel we make an impact, we may be speeding a process up, but in the design of nature we are but a click of the finger in time & it is likely nature has decided out time is nigh, so to speak.
Sorry to disagree with all the Goreites but history shows the present dilemma has occured at least once before & nature will correct itself once maybe twice more before its energy system is extinguished, in terms of humans that timescale is incomprehensible but to the force far, far greater its a 'mere bagatelle.
We could just enjoy the time we have left, after all we are talking hundreds maybe thousands of years, thats assuming we don't blow ourselves to smithereens in the meantime.
Here is central USA we had the coolest summer I can remember.
The climate is cyclic and mother earth is in control, not man.
The zero CO2 is a stupid idea as what does every living breathing creature exhale and what makes the plants grow?????? Biology 101
Using what is god-made not man-made and honoring the system is what I refer to as the KISS method (keep it simple, stupid), but it doesn't make profits or keep the masses in the fear mode. I guess it is my native american blood stirring in me.
Peace!!!!!
Like your response especially the "Kiss Method". I am a firm believer in keeping it simple. All too often people feel it has no validity unless we have made a science of it.Your native-American blood is something to be proud of because it gives you the ability to see beyond the greed for wealth and power.Nature will determine the future of the planet and there is little we can do if we choose to disrespect it's unbeatable power.
Even if the US spent a quarter of the money it is wasting in Iraq, the return would be incredible.
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