What I find a little strange is this: there are people on here defending these hypocrites jetting around the world, having agreeable dinners, handshaking and grandstanding for the cameras. I've mentioned here a number of times that the UK could reduce its "harmful emissions" to zero tomorrow and it would make not one jot of difference to the global situation. "Ah, but we must set a good example to those countries which can make a difference" I am told. Leaving aside the fact that such an example will not lead those countries to alter their habits anyway, if leading by example is so effective, the best thing our leaders can do is to practice what they preach. There is no need for 30,000+ people to assemble in one place. The technology is available so that all the necessary material can be distributed electronically and meetings can be held virtually. It's the best example they can set. Arguing that the general population must change its habits without making a similar argument for these people to do the same weakens that argument considerably.
Every one of these beanfeasts that I can recall begins by announcing that it is "one minute to midnight", "final chance" and other such nonsensical warnings of the Armageddon to come. Here’s part of the opening speeches from “COP25”, held two years’ ago in Spain:
“As Executive Secretary Espinosa has said, if we stay on our current path we risk a sharp rise in global temperatures this century, and I quote: “This will have enormous negative consequences for humanity and threaten our existence on this planet. We need an
immediate and urgent change in trajectory.”
“We stand at a critical juncture in our collective efforts to limit dangerous global heating.”
Similar dramatic introductions can be found in the minutes of all of the Climate Change conferences (certainly all of those I have looked at). The “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change” was formulated in 1990. In the intervening 30 years a number of these festivals have been held. But still the problem persists. If all the world’s Great and Good have been meeting with such frequency and regularity, why have their efforts not borne more fruit? The main reason is that worlds’ largest polluters have no intention of doing anything significant to address the problem. This latest gathering will be no different. Mankind will have to learn to live with the consequences of his influences on the planet. That’s always been the case and that’s where the effort should be concentrated.