From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
♫ But where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns
Don’t bothеr, they’re herе ♫
Four years ago in Glasgow, Alok Sharma burst into tears when delegates at COP26 refused to agree to the phasing out of coal. Four years on, little has changed.
As I predicted before COP30 began, a last-minute agreement was struck, which ended up satisfying nobody, following threatened walkouts and tantrums.
A minority of countries, led by the UK and the EU, wanted the agreement to include a legally binding roadmap on how and when the world would transition away from fossil fuels – something that the world had committed to in principle at COP28. Such a roadmap would put meat on the bones of what had been no more than a vague promise to do something at some stage in the future.
A majority of countries however opposed the UK’s plan, which had been strenuously argued by Ed Milband. Although fingers were pointed at the Arab oil states, it was China and India, supported by many Asian and African nations, whose economies depend on fossil fuels and who need them to improve the lot of their people, that kiboshed the idea.
The UK and EU, along with a small handful of Latin American countries and Pacific Islands even sent a letter to the COP President, threatening to block any agreement that did not include a firm commitment to phase out fossil fuels. But it was all to no avail, as the COP Presidency simply ignored their demands and offered them a “take it or leave it” choice instead. In humiliating fashion, the UK and EU had to back down.
The final deal made no mention of a roadmap or even included stronger language about phasing out fossil fuels. The only mention was an in passing “acknowledgement” of the transition already agreed at COP28. Ed Miliband had to suck it up, pathetically claiming that the meeting was a “step forward” – he did not mention the two steps back!
One of the takeaways of Belem has been the eclipse of Europe as a force in world politics. No longer does the rest of the world pay attention to anything pipsqueaks like Ed Miliband and Wopke Hoekstra, the EU Climate Commissioner, have to say. After all, why should any developing nation be denied cheap, abundant fossil fuel energy, just on the say so of those two?
In truth, this was the COP when pious platitudes met cold, harsh reality. And cold, harsh reality won.
While rich, Western countries are still determined to pursue Net Zero regardless of the cost and damage entailed, the rest of the world long ago worked out that fossil fuels are an essential, not a luxury.
The other main topic of discussion was money. Once again, poorer countries went away empty handed, despite a meaningless agreement to triple climate adaptation funds from the existing level of around $40 billion a year. I say meaningless, because this will still have to be funded out of the same $300 billion fund, promised for 2035 at last year’s COP29.
Miliband and the EU were doubly disappointed that their attempts to get China and the Arabs, still unbelievable classed as “developing” nations, to pay their fair share fell on deaf ears.
Maybe Miliband might get Rachel from Accounts to explain in her Budget where she will get the money from to pay for all this aid.
There was even little in the agreement about stopping deforestation, despite this being close to Brazilian President Lula’s heart.
But never mind! As the BBC’s Georgina Rannard was thrilled to announce, COP30 did pass a new “Gender Action Plan”. So that’s alright then!
What was the point of it all? Some 50,000 flew into Belem to attend the conference, including more than 200 from Britain., Thousands more came to protest outside the Centre. The BBC even sent sixteen staff, who wandered around with their usual sense of self-importance. Huge swathes of rainforest were destroyed to build new roads.
And all for what?
Since the heady days of Paris ten years ago, emissions have continued to climb. Despite successive COP talk shops, the world is no nearer to even cutting emissions in the foreseeable future, never mind phasing them out completely.
COP30 still clings to the mantra of limiting warming to 1.5C from Little Ice levels, maintaining the fallacy that it is still “within reach”. That always was an impossible mirage; indeed, we have already got close to 1.5C, without any detrimental effects whatsoever.
As the BBC put it, “one observer said – they’d never seen so many people so underwhelmed by so little progress at a COP.”
https://climateactiontracker.org/publications/warming-projections-global-update-2025
The whole circus will of course be back in Turkey next year, with the same inevitable results.
♫ Where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns
Well, maybe next year… ♫
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I hope they had a good party.
poor living conditions, constant rains, deluge, heat and humidity, nonfunctional AC, and fires doesn’t make for a good party
A party that cost at least $5 billion (excluding food, transportation, and “entertainment”)..
Argh, the news cycle moves so fast now you need amphetamines to keep up with it. Ok…. Coke, Charlie etc if you happen to be better off, of course.
“Four years ago in Glasgow, Alok Sharma burst into tears”.
Four years later we’re all bursting into tears of utter despair. The CoP hasn’t even registered here – at all. Sorry, Justin Rowlatt, but it’s about as important as mowing the lawn in late November.
Two days after the welfare budget…
“Now that it has been spelled out by the OBR that the black hole did not in fact exist media reports which swallowed the Treasury’s spin entirely look ludicrous.
…
The £20-30 billion black hole did not exist. The media, which spends a lot of the time pointing out to Reeves that she can’t be trusted, went ahead and reported without scrutiny the Treasury’s Budget forecast deceptions…. – Guido
So, we have been taxed to the hilt for no good reason….
Starmer says Budget ‘asked everybody to contribute’ to protect public services – Standard
Asked? Asked? Had he had the decency to ask he knows full well what the what the answer would have been.
This government again proves the value of democracy:
that people get the bad leaders they deserve and not the good leaders they need.
It is high time we realize that we need a qualified vote –
for starters those who are older and have jobs and no criminal record –
to make a wiser choice of who will govern us.
For starters, verified citizens.
Didn’t a great British philosopher propose the Liberal idea that only landowners should be allowed to vote?
Something like that crept into the US Constitution as I recall.
Qualifying those who can vote is an old trick much loved by depots and fascists.
“to make a wiser choice of who will govern us.” A good stating point would be to cease voting for owned and controlled party hacks. Instead, vote for intelligent and able, independents. Who, at least could be obedient to their own conscience and so properly represent their constituents. This is a simple solution that is in the hands of every voter.
When the mass of voters cannot properly identify the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates and recognize the consequences of their policies – where some understanding of history is useful – how can these people make wise choices? Wisdom comes through struggles to provide for your family and raise children to be responsible citizens. Students and those starting a career are far from wisdom as are those who have lived most of their lives off the teat of their nanny state. And as for consciences these are only as reliable as the moral foundation people have.
Further away? Since net-zero is just a fantasy, it’s not a reachable goal, and distance is irrelevant.
We are constantly reminded by the BBC that the UK reaching Net Zero by 2005 is a legally binding requirement.
I sometimes wonder who will be the first to go to prison on Jan1st 2051, but then realise that the likelihood of that happening is even lower than that of Net Zero being achieved. The Net Zero ‘programme’ will have driven our economy into the ground by then and we probably won’t be able to afford a working justice system.
Is 2005 a typo, perhaps 2050 is the year?
Absolutely right – thanks for spotting
“A minority of countries, led by the UK and the EU, wanted the agreement to include a legally binding roadmap on how and when the world would transition away from fossil fuels…”
How = no way, when = never.
“Legally binding”? On the world stage? What fantasy land are they from? The only reason they received agreement in the past is because those parties knew there was nothing keeping them from business as usual. All virtue signaling, nothing more. COP will only continue because it’s a free junket. The party is over.
I can imagine long-term attendees at CoPs like Al Gore crying to his psychologist that –
“it hurts every time I go a CoP now”
and the Doc replies with classic medical advice –
“well stop doing it then”
“And keep taking the Lithium“
Please accept that ‘Paris’ said two degrees which of course would have taken decades to reach and WAS NOT FRIGHTENING ENOUGH! So the IPCC was forced to write SR1.5 which if you read it (DON’T) is full of rambles about how much SAFER. 1.5 is. The science is very suspect and was much laughed it. The accompanying COP at Katowice was a failure as usual
The number 1.5 has been all over the place. Easier to predict Mega Millions numbers.
Well to give them credit the delegates brought more begging bowls along than previously.
“While rich, Western countries are still determined to pursue Net Zero regardless of the cost and damage entailed …”. I am fortunate to live in a reasonably rich Western nation that is moving away from the idiocy as quickly as possible.
The Western reasonably rich countries that do follow this Net-Zero nonsense are destroying their own economies.
Where is all this “climate funding” meant to come from ?
There will certainly be a clown next year. Australia’s Chief Clown, Chris ‘Blackout’ Bowen, our Climate Change and Energy Minister perhaps better described as our Minister for Decline has been appointed President of Negotiations.
I think the most disheartening thing is that almost all of these people are highly educated yet they continue to be snookered by this fairy tale.
When the BBC, possibly the worst of the climate alarmists, starts conceding that these COP conferences have been consistent failures, we know it’s time for them to be terminated permanently. Naturally all the freeloaders and hangers-on who receive funding for these deals won’t admit anything because to do so would mean that they’d have to forego all the free flights, accommodations and meals that go along with them. So the real culprits are the various governments worldwide who persist in wasting taxpayers’ money to finance meetings with track records that prove they’re accomplishing nothing. Therefore, it’s up to the same taxpayers who need to demand accountability for these affairs, and if the bureaucrats and elected officials can’t provide any, it’s time for voters to take the appropriate action against them.