One of the biggest problems for supporters of man-made global-warming theories at the UN is the apparent lack of resolve to renew and build upon the Kyoto Protocol. The 1997 treaty signed in Japan provides money for poorer governments while limiting the CO2 emissions of industrialized countries, which the UN blames for climate change. It also created a fledgling global “market” for so-called “carbon credits.”
The agreement is currently the main global mechanism purportedly fighting “global warming” today. And it’s set to expire in 2012.
But while UN types and climate activists want the treaty extended and expanded, major governments including Japan, Canada, and Russia are not cooperating. Among the complaints levied by some of the uncooperative governments against the Kyoto mechanism is the fact that the U.S. Senate never ratified it. China, as a “developing” country and the second largest “emitter” after the United States, does not fall under the emissions regime either.
"The full implementation of the Cancun agreements can only become an important step forward for the climate if there's a responsible and clear way ahead on the Kyoto Protocol," UN global-warming boss Figueres declared at the start of the conference in Bangkok. She hopes a consensus among governments will emerge prior to the major UN climate summit in Durban, South Africa, later this year.
At the COP16 in Cancun, Mexico, last year, governments agreed to force the populations and companies they rule to reduce CO2 emissions, while pursuing global taxes and more international treaties. They also decided to set up a giant wealth-transfer mechanism that would eventually see around $100 billion or more per year — in addition to technology — flow from taxpayers in “rich” countries to the governments of poorer nations.
But Figuerers doesn’t think that’s enough. "The sum of national promises so far equals only 60 percent of what science says is required to have a medium chance of staying below the two-degree goal," she told reporters in Bangkok, where representatives of more than 170 governments are assembled. "Moreover, a coordinated system to manage and deploy enough resources to protect the poor and vulnerable from existing climate change is not yet adequate."
The governments of smaller, poor countries — presumably hoping to rake in more climate money from wealthier nations — also demanded deeper emissions cuts and more money.
"We are concerned that we are going around in circles and making no progress,” complained Ian Fry, a representative of the Tuvalu government. “We are concerned that we have no guarantee that there will be a Kyoto Protocol at the end of this year."
Reuters reported that Fry told representatives of governments that do not support the treaty to leave. The statement reportedly prompted applause from the assembled climate dignitaries.
Supposed environmentalist groups are also busy providing cover for the UN and national governments by pretending that even what is being done won’t be enough to stave off the anticipated horrors of allegedly man-made global warming.
"So, not only do we have a problem when it comes to taking further action, we actually have some governments, some developed country governments, that are rolling backwards," Tove Ryding, with Greenpeace International, told Voice of America, a media outfit funded by the U.S. government. "The same with the Kyoto Protocol. Some developed countries are more eager to get out of the Kyoto Protocol than to build on it and go forward."
The global-warming conference in Bangkok comes amidst growing public skepticism about the theories underpinning the movement and the UN’s “science” in particular — not to mention the economy-destroying measures allegedly required to slow the theoretical problem. And even high-profile supporters of the theories have publicly questioned the wisdom of the international body’s efforts.
"If the world as a whole cut all emissions tomorrow, the average temperature of the planet's not going to drop for several hundred years, perhaps over 1,000 years," noted Australia’s new chief climate-change commissioner Professor Tim Flannery in a recent radio interview.
Adding to the climate movement’s woes, the UN’s flagship report about global warming, produced by the IPCC, has also been thoroughly discredited. Researchers discovered, among other problems, that the report was citing false information from press releases issued by special-interest groups. Factual errors on even the most basic questions such as the percentage of the Netherlands that is below sea-level were also exposed.
The leaked e-mails in the ClimateGate scandal, which showed “scientists” plotting to hide contradictory data, violate laws, and smear opponents, didn’t help the campaign either.
On top of the skepticism about the human-caused warming theories, a series of U.S. State Department cables released by WikiLeaks last year also hurt the climate cause by showing what “climate negotiations” really looked like behind the scenes. What the documents exposed was the systematic use of what essentially amounts to bribery: wealthy governments offering taxpayer money to poorer regimes in exchange for an agreement that would allow the imposition of “green” taxes, more government control over industry, and worse. Threats, of course, were also a part of the "negotiating."
In the news recently, as well, is the global-warming movement’s links to the eugenics movement, a campaign which was permanently tainted in the public mind by National Socialist (Nazi) leader Adolf Hitler. As The New American reported on April 5, the ties between prominent “climate” leaders and the murderous ideology of eugenics is undeniable. And with an article exposing the connection in a prominent British newspaper, the spotlight is once again proving problematic for climate crusaders.
The governments meeting in Bangkok hope to make progress on laying the foundations for a new treaty that can be approved in Durban later this year. Whether they will succeed remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: Enthusiasm is eroding rapidly for global agreements that would impoverish the people of the world while doing absolutely nothing to help the environment.
Photo of Christiana Figueres: AP Images
