Climate Change

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The unwanted equation: poverty vs climate change

By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor

The proposed Copenhagen climate treaty has plenty of jargon – "mitigation" and "adaptation" are two examples already given. But the key word may yet turn out to be "additionality".

Additionality means that finance provided to help developing countries deal with climate change is entirely on top of the aid sums they receive from the rich West to help them with their development – with agriculture, poverty relief, health and education. They fear that, without this guarantee, when the rich states have to start providing huge sums of climate finance under the treaty, they will simply divert their aid flows, and that money that once went to schools and hospitals will be switched, for example, to windfarms. But although additionality is hinted at in the EU proposals, it is not guaranteed – which could be a deal-breaker in December.

"Even the poorest countries are aware that if the money is coming from future aid commitments, it's forcing them to choose between building flood defences and sea walls, and building schools and hospitals," said Oxfam's Robert Bailey. "And that's not a trade-off that's going to be acceptable.

"Why should they sign a deal that gives with one hand and takes away with another? If there's no new money, there'll be no deal," Mr Bailey said.

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[info]john_levett wrote:
Monday, 2 November 2009 at 08:04 am (UTC)
Of course there'll be no more money: look how many times Gordon Brown has committed millions to this, billions to that only for us to discover that the money is illusory or something that has been promised several times previously and 'relaunched'.

The climate scam is all about big business preserving natural resources for itself and eliminating the competition from emergent countries. In future, aid (aka 'bribes')will only be given to countries provided that they deny themselves the means to develop.

It's win-win for the politicians: their rich corporate friends get richer and provide them with better-rewarded sinecures, the poorest remain the poorest and the rest of us provide the funds with ever more taxes and artificially inflated energy prices.

Meanwhile, the climate will change as it has always done.
[info]john_levett wrote:
Monday, 2 November 2009 at 08:23 am (UTC)
Climate Con
[info]moresomaplease wrote:
Monday, 2 November 2009 at 10:51 am (UTC)
This climate con is about making people like Al Gore richer, its got nothing to do with saving the planet or helping the third world. The worrying thing is Carbon Taxes will be some sort of Futures market with toxic financial instruments like derivatives or CDOs and we are just seeing how good they were for our economy.

Co2 is not a poison, don't believe me watch 'Jimmys Food Factory Whats in My Sandwich' on BBC iplayer - A tomato farmer in England pumps all his Co2 by product in to his tomato green house.

A) he is able to work in the green house all day with no adverse affects to his health
B) he grows the best tomatoes this side if the English channel.

P.S.

Dear Michael McCarthy/The Independent

Is it not about time you started reporting the truth about climate change, do you really think that this con can be kept up forever?
all hell is breaking loose
[info]pmagn wrote:
Tuesday, 3 November 2009 at 12:46 am (UTC)
What a nightmare we all face.

And guess what the west will be deplete of moneys once they start to tackle climate adaption in their backyard.

Who is going to clean up the nuclear plants on the coast now. There has not been a peep about this with the firming up of sea level rises.

Were in for nightmare future.
climate change aid
[info]gates23 wrote:
Tuesday, 3 November 2009 at 11:13 am (UTC)
Essentially what it will be is climate change aid.Developed countries are more responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, and are developed entirely due to the mass use of fossil fuels over the past century. A century which has seen rich nations get richer and poor nations get poorer because our businesses are stealing their resources. Now they are the first countries to feel the effects of climate change they barely helped cause and they don't have the resources to help protect their people.

We can't carry on ignoring the poverty and suffering in this world, we could have ended world hunger many times over with the money we spent on bailing out the bankers.

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