From the GWPF
Green Agenda Kicked Into UN Black Hole
The climate change conference in Cancún has ended with failure to set a target date for the reduction of carbon emissions. The Mexican hosts persuaded 192 out of 193 countries to accept the “Cancún agreement” by the simple trick of aiming for the lowest common denominator — the agreement was secured by deferring decisions on all of the most contentious issues. –Ben Webster, The Times, 13 December 2010
Under the new Cancun deal, each country will be allowed to offer whatever it wishes to pledge for emission reductions on its own volition. There shall be no cumulative target to reach. No one shall ask if the individual targets are collectively adequate or not. The new regime will only check if the pledges have been acted upon or not. Rich countries, including the US, will offer emission reduction targets and others, such as India, will offer their mitigation actions as part of a new deal which can be said to be defined by the bottoms up approach. Under the agreement India will get off easy. Because it let others off easy as well. –Nitin Sethi, The Economic Times of India, 12 December 2010
That is the big news out of Cancun; the green agenda has fallen into a UN black hole and for now at least it cannot get out. The “success” of Cancun is a best case scenario from the skeptic’s point of view. The cost of funding endless UN gabfests in exotic tourist locations (next up: South Africa in 2012) is trivial compared to the cost of any serious efforts to deal with carbon emissions on the scale current scientific theory suggests would be needed. Bureaucrats will dance, journalists will spin and carbon will spew, and the greens will be unable to escape this dysfunctional UN process for years and maybe decades to come. –Walter Russell Mead, The American Interest, 12 December 2010
A new “green fund” to help poor countries adapt to the effects of global warming formed the centrepiece of a small package of measures on climate change agreed at the Cancún conference, which finished on Saturday. But although governments have agreed on the form of the fund, which should eventually supply $100bn a year to developing countries, the question of how the money for it will be raised has still not been resolved. –Fiona Harvey, Financial Times, 12 December 2010
Is there anybody on planet earth who thinks that $100 billion is going to be paid? –Walter Russell Mead,The American Interest, 12 December 2010
When it comes to UN climate conferences, I am constantly flabbergasted by the breathless naivety and forced optimism of certain politicians and environmental reporters, not to mention of green activists. It is as if Voltaire’s very own Dr. Pangloss had set sail to Cancún with Candide. –Philip Stott,The Global Warming Policy Foundation, 12 December 2010
UK businesses are facing a “perfect storm” from 2012 when they will be hit by a doubling in their energy bills at the same time as the UK government’s controversial “carbon tax”. —Nathalie Thomas,Scotland on Sunday, 12 December 2010
Powerfuel, which is developing the UK’s first commercial scale clean coal power plant, has gone into administration because of the crippling cost of the project. The administration is a blow for CCS technology, which the UK and EU see as vital to meeting targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. –Andrew Bounds,Financial Times, 11 December 2010
Cancun Has Solidified Deadlock Over Post-Kyoto Treaty
The Global Warming Policy Foundation, 11 December 2010
The UN climate summit shows that there is no prospect whatever for a global and legally binding climate treaty.
All that the Cancun summit has done is to bless, formally, the Copenhagen accord, and roll it forward for another year.
Despite all the usual rhetoric by politicians and campaigners, the fact remains that yet another attempt has failed to reach a legally binding agreement.
The summit has postponed, once again, all real decisions and has solidified the international deadlock. What little that was agreed was without substance and is not binding in any case.
No other country has been as foolish as Britain to enact extremely aggressive and completely unrealistic climate targets. For the UK, to keep going it alone is not merely suicidal but pointless.
Nor does it make sense to make British industry – and manufacturing in particular – even more uncompetitive, or to drive it overseas, by gratuitously driving up energy costs.
The Government should now suspend its unilateral and extremely costly climate targets until such time as all other major nations have signed up to the same course.
Dr Benny Peiser
Director, The Global Warming Policy Foundation
The interesting think is that Cancun has barely if at all made any appearance on the BBC news agenda.
Its tempting to say this is significant and the BBC is reassessing its position on so called global warming and AGW.
But equally they may have wanted to keep the whole thing out of the limelight whilst much of northern Britain is under some of the biggest earliest snow for years.
One thing they all agree on was no one left with a sunburn.
Not according to the UK Daily Telegraph’s Geoffrey Lean who was given a full page on P23 of the 11/12/2010 and I quote “Less than a day after the international summit in Cancun hit deadlock, a breakthrough agreement was reached amid scenes of tearful jubilation”
I don’t understand why this paper keeps giving this lot so much copy space. Chris Booker gets a decent amount but Lean and Gray are getting far too much space for their left-leaning diatribes for my liking.
Does the Telegraph have a Grauniad mole?
It seems to me that the the US can label much of its foreign aid as Climate Disruption Reparation. That way it can keep going to the African governments and if it doesn’t percolate down to the farmers, then nothing has changed, except the US gets international brownie points.
Next year I am not going to work, why should I ? My tax money goes into a black hole, I Need an operation, but have been told that on national health ( UK ) there is a 2 year waiting list, but if I want to pay 18,000 pounds they can do it next week.
If I go on unemployment I will after 20 years get back what I have payed in, so I am selling up and buying a small yacht and goodbye England,
the Government is going to raise 2.9 billion from tripling University fees, but they are giving 2.9 billion to Africian countries to buy windmills and Mercedes cars for the Africian politicians, I am geting out while the pound still has a little value.
As the UK paints it’s self into a carbon corner, one has to wonder if the minister for Climate Change ever speaks to the minister responsible for UK Plc competitiveness?
The level of incompetence displayed by our ruling class leaves me gob-smacked.
I can’t help but notice the IPCC is going further south to South Africa. I guess the best chance of making sure the winter doesn’t find you in late November and early December is to go to a place where it leaving spring and going into summer in those months.
Alan Chappell says:
December 13, 2010 at 5:37 am
If you’re getting out by boat, head downunder and seek assylum from the lunatic UK politicians.
Australian immigration camps are so full, new entrants are being accomodated in motels, you’ll be well looked after, free medical so you can get that op as well.
My feelings exactly Benny. If David Clegeron would answer my emails directly, I would say exactly the same thing, as I am a citizen and a business man subject to the triple wammy of his/their energy tax policies and his desire to see the countryside littered with his father-in-laws and other chums grant absorbing windmills.
Meanwhile I am selfishly off on holiday in that temperate country of Australia, to see my daughter before the UK makes even that indulgence so extraordinarily expensive through aviation surcharges. I offer my sincere apologise to all of you in the States suffering yet another bout of extreme “Climate Disruption” along with all those at home who, I believe are about to experience yet another period of unseasonal bitterly cold weather. If any one out there is listening, including you David, not that s**t head in 10 Downing Street, but my brother blessed with the same name, please ensure that our 94 year old mother and my 90 year old father in law keep their heating on over this period and sod to the cost.
AleaJactaEst says:
December 13, 2010 at 5:26 am
‘I don’t understand why this paper keeps giving this lot so much copy space. Chris Booker gets a decent amount but Lean and Gray are getting far too much space for their left-leaning diatribes for my liking.’
I think it’s called hedging your bets.
For UN Cancun documents and reports see:
United Nations Climate Change Conference Cancun – COP 16 / CMP 6
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
The BBC did their usual pieces on Cancun. They invited the WWF to their news bulletin and gave him a relatively big slot to espouse their usual crap and then put several articles on their web site for the clowns Black et al to get their say.
This Cancun summit was barely covered by any media outlets here in N america. The agreement itself was not posted on the net like Coopehagen’s was last year, at least I have not been able to find it. This was a secret meeting compared to Copenhagen.
The fact that there has been a climate fund established is bad news. This money will be used by the UN to build new offices and biuildings in developing countries in order to ‘control’ the spending of the climate fund. This is a new governing body no doubt. And of course the countries receiveng the climate money will use it to erect a few wind turbines, because they know tubines makes the lefty media feel all warm and fuzzy when they seee them; while also using the climate funding to buy Chinese built Kalashnikov assault rifles at $5 each. The UN will be arming the developing world under the guise of climate justice. Gross.
Re: “Green agenda kicked into black hole.”
And I hope it never escapes.
Let the UK be the example for the rest of the world on how dumb policy cripples your country’s economic strength.
Just like the PIGS can show the rest of the world what happens when you spend beyond your means.
At least these governments are good for something – even if it is just a lesson for the rest of the governments on how NOT to run your country.
OT – The McShane & Wyner discussion is now available at the Annals of Applied Statistics: http://www.imstat.org/aoas/next_issue.html
There is a lot of fascinating material to read there – the original paper, criticisms from the Hockey Team, support from others and, what seems to me at least, a brilliant rejoinder from McShane and Wyner.
The BBC has had Cancun on the front page of its website for a few days.
Richard Black is trying his best to put lipstick on a pig – the comments on his blog are in the majority of being skeptic.
There is great wailing and gnashing of teeth over at the BBC.
Judging by the comments, The Economist has had a rather negative response to its green issue (with a farmer with a divers helmet on the front cover – the diver’s helmet presumably providing breathable air rather than all that toxic CO2 – yikes so SCARY).
http://www.economist.com/node/17575027/comments?sort=recommend#sort-comments
The tide has definitely turned.
(news item: $100 billion fund created to aid developing countries, source of funds to yet to be determined)
I hereby announce the creation of a fund which will pay every poster on Watt’s Up With That a Million dollars a year! I think everyone will be with me on that!!!
Now where will the money come from? Oh, that’s not important, who needs to plan that far ahead? Let’s just cheer what a good agreement we have made!!!! It’ll all work out if we just believe hard enough, right?
fly, tinkerbell, fly!!!
Sadly Frosty, it is not incompetence, it is treason.
Frosty says:
December 13, 2010 at 5:43 am
As the UK paints it’s self into a carbon corner, one has to wonder if the minister for Climate Change ever speaks to the minister responsible for UK Plc competitiveness?
The level of incompetence displayed by our ruling class leaves me gob-smacked.
As a loyal Daily (and Sunday) Telegraph reader I must take issue with AleaJactaEst (whatever that means), Geoffrey Lean is just one of many columnists who write for DT. He is entitled to his opinion as are all other the others. I suggest you read Christopher Booker in The Sunday Telegraph, and others who have a different opinion to Lean’s, and also the Letters page where the overwhelming number of correspondents are on the non-warmist side!
key thing is not to get worn down by the bureaucratic machine, which will keep grinding on as long as there are conferences to go to, jobs to be had, feelings of superiority to dwell in, and power of any kind to exercise.
Relax, and let the continuing snowfall work its wonders with the electorate, who while acknowledging that weather isn’t climate, are increasingly realising they’ve been “had”
Soon enough, the politicians will run for cover…. (I hope)
You can’t say that no real progress came out of Cancun – that ban on DHMO is closer to reality than ever, thanks to all the signatories to the petition that was circulated.
As this sinks in it will, unnoticed, remove an obstacle to the writing, publication, and acceptance of non-warmist climate science. As long as there was a realistic prospect of a treaty, many climatologists, gatekeepers, and reporters were intent on not torpedoing its chances that they suppressed and marginalized dissent. Now, not so much, and there will be less pressure to stay On Message.
Anthea Collins says:
December 13, 2010 at 7:02 am
Alea Jacta Est – The Die Is Cast – read your Asterix The Gaul.
The D/S Telegraph has always been a right leaning paper with editorials & leads to match. Only very recently, certainly only in the last two or three years, have column inches in the news sections been dedicated to the warmest propaganda I would expect to see in the Guardian or on the BBC website with little balanced reporting from those who see through the green miasma.
Booker gets a good slot every week at the rear but is currently being swamped with “point of view” from CAGW which is out of character for the journal I once knew and loved.
If these inches are as you say an opinion of the journalist they should be in the editorials not in dedicated inches as “news” which implies factual correctness.
Lean makes his beliefs well known in his missives and simply does not “report” any other side of the argument.
It is terrible that we must wish for prolonged cold weather, as it causes poverty, misery, and deaths. Yet the alternative is worse, because of the bizarre politics of our time. Only repeated bouts of unseasonable cold will slowly turn the CAGW ship of fools on to a more human-friendly course.
Record cold in in NA, Europe, and especially Cancun has probably done more good than all of the clear scientific evidence the CAGW is not happening.