Never before has there been so many egos in the one room:
It was the largest single-day gathering of heads of state or government in history, the UN said.
“Never have the stakes of an international meeting been so high because it concerns the future of the planet, the future of life,” French President Francois Hollande said in an opening speech.
“The hope of all of humanity rests on all of your shoulders.” –– Paris Climate Change Talks begin, The Australian, Graham Lloyd.
Glory be. Pray to our Elected Fathers (and Mothers) who have come to save us from our sins.
The Chosen Ones shall rescue us with full gloss PR. For it is only in the world of Mass Marketing that we can call China a climate saviour:
[Obama] then met Chinese President Xi Jinping before the summit started, with his focus turned to deepening co-operation between the world’s two biggest emitters of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
“As the two largest carbon emitters, we have both determined that it is our responsibility to take action,” Mr Obama said as he sat alongside Mr Xi.
And so it comes to pass that the largest producer of carbon dioxide “pollution”, the land with the dirtiest factories can be lauded. (And the journalists will largely fall for this fanciful narrative.
For each product they make, Chinese factories on average, will make four times as much CO2 as cleaner Western factories. Who seriously believes that the nation that is the largest consumer of coal is suddenly “determined to be responsible” even though all its promises amount to nothing more than token schemes and business as usual.
Based on past numbers, in the next 12 months, China will increase its emissions by an amount that is more than Australia’s total annual emissions. As is already widely known, it’s likely Chinese population growth will peak in 2030, as will their emissions. The Chinese are flatly smiling, watching Western competitors cripple their own industries, while they reap income from selling solar panels, and then take money for carbon credits from cleaning up a few of the worst factories. What’s not to like?
If Australia somehow “succeeds” in cutting our emissions by a whopping, preposterous 25%, at the moment China will replace that in 45 days.
Our little blue planet needs saving,
From the egos in Paris now raving,
About climate control,
As their ultimate goal,
When it’s lust for world power they’re craving.
— Ruauri
World Resources Institute, 2012