Scientists called for ‘unprecedented’ action. But the global climate talks aren’t built for that

KATOWICE, Poland — Negotiators from nearly 200 nations drew close to a deal Friday that would nudge the world toward stronger targets for reducing carbon emissions and enshrine a clearer set of rules for how to get there.

A group of Polish youths staged a protest in the U.N.
climate conference venue in Katowice on the last
scheduled day of talks to urge negotiators from
almost 200 countries to reach an agreement on ways
of keeping global warming in check.

But even amid the glimmers of progress at this year’s climate summit, where more than 25,000 people have gathered in the heart of Poland’s coal mining region, there was a deeper undercurrent of dismay. The world’s best efforts, some participants concluded after two weeks of nonstop talks, would not nearly match the urgency of a problem that scientists have said will bring catastrophic consequences without major action over the next 12 years.

“Climate change is not something in our future. It’s happening to us now,” said Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives and chief of the island nation’s negotiating team here. “We will not survive if business goes as usual.”

Read the story from The Washington Post by Griff Witte and Brady Dennis - “Scientists called for ‘unprecedented’ action. But the global climate talks aren’t built for that.”

Coal question looms large as climate talks begin in Poland

Katowice,  Poland: Negotiators from around the world opened the United Nations' annual climate change conference on Sunday in a Polish city built around mining coal, widely seen as a main culprit behind global warming.

The COP 24 UN Climate Change Conference is taking
 place in Katowice, Poland. Negotiators from around
 the world are meeting for talks on curbing climate change. CREDIT:

Arriving for two weeks of talks on tackling climate change, conference participants cast off hats, scarves and heavy coats as they entered cavernous halls in Katowice heated by coal-fired power plants nearby.

Coal is centre-stage at the UN summit, which is taking place three years after a landmark deal in Paris set a goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius.

While the Polish government claims Katowice is in the process of transforming into a green city , power plant chimneys pumped plumes of smoke into a dull December sky and monitoring sites showed elevated levels of air pollution.

Read the story from The Age by Frank Jordans - “Coal question looms large as climate talks begin in Poland.”

Richard Denniss laments our preference for banks over the climate

Richard Denniss - "If only the climate
was as important as banks".

Want your country to enter the European Union? Want better access to Indian agricultural markets? Want some extra aid funding? Perhaps a seat on the UN Security Council? Which would you like? How can I help you? Step right in. Welcome to the biggest foreign policy swap meet since Copenhagen in 2009.

The Paris climate talks are not just about climate change. Paris isn't full of scientists, engineers or even economists. Its full of trade negotiators and lobbyists, most of whom know little about, and care even less about, what burning fossil fuels is doing to the atmosphere.

Anyone who has ever solved a problem or chaired a meeting knows that it doesn't take 40,000 negotiators and "observers" to break an impasse or solve a problem. Indeed, a cynic might argue that the creation of a process that requires so many participants was designed to ensure that the market for coal and oil continues to grow each year.

In 1992, world leaders first agreed that burning fossil fuels caused climate change, that we needed to burn less fossil fuels, and that rich countries should act first. Fossil fuel consumption and production have risen steadily since.

Read by the comment piece by The Australia Institute chief economist, Richard Denniss in the Canberra Times - “If only the climate was as important as big banks.”