UN climate chief urges countries to 'search for common ground' on global warming ahead of a year-end meeting in Mexico
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Epsom/Tianjin: Monday, October 4, 2010 saw the opening of a six-day conference in China – the world's biggest carbon emitter ahead of November-December talks in Cancún. 3,000 delegates are taking part at this event from governments, NGOs, the UN, etc.
Last year's U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen disappointed many environmentalists and political leaders when it failed to produce a global and legally binding treaty on curbing the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Instead, nations agreed to a nonbinding political declaration on fighting climate change.
In the months since then, expectations have been downsized as it has become obvious that countries remain deadlocked on the same issues. Distrust has only deepened between developed and developing countries over how to cut the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the earth to overheat.
China and the United States are the world's leading carbon emitters, accounting for 40 percent of the world's total emission of greenhouse gases, which have been blamed for global warming.
The amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases generated by the summit in the Chinese port city of Tianjin and by the travel of all those 3,000 delegates from all those far-flung will add to the rest of them generated and certainly will not help one bit.
Now, here we go again with a load of waste of fuel in travel and nothing but hot air will come out of it. Why can those meetings not be held via the Web? And please don't anyone give the excuses that Gordon Brown had when school kids asked him that at the Copenhagen summit.
Now we are going to have another week or so of lots of energy waste, etc. while there would be no need for them to gather in any one place in the first place.
One can but wonder as well how many of the climate activists also have traveled to China to make their voices heard and have wasted tons of CO2 and whatever else in the process.
It would appear that with those activists and many others it is a case of “do as we tell you but don't do as we do” for they seem to have different standards that are applicable to them than those applicable to the rest of the world.
Hypocrites all, I can but say.
When we have those meetings on the Internet via video conferencing facilities and services then I will begin to believe that they are for real. Until then the heads of governments, of the UN bodies and those of environmental organizations are nothing but hypocrites to me.
In addition to all the talk nothing will happen anyway. So, aside from wasting lots of time, energy and generating tons and tons of greenhouse gases the outcome will be same; namely: business as usual, only that they will make noises to the contrary and trade a little bit of carbon here and there.
Show me your green; don't just talk about it. Actions speak, words are just hollow, in this case.
© 2010
