Environmental Law

BALI SUMMIT ALREADY ON VERGE OF FAILURE (NO SURPRISE)

By STEPHEN HOLZER

     Other than the delegates' emitting tons of feared carbon pollution by traveling to and from the Bali summit (see earlier Post below), it is not clear just what the submitters hope to accomplish.  This from the The Canadian Press today:

Greenhouse gases are continually skyrocketing - with the U.S., China, and India leading the way.

That's why [Canadian environment minister] Baird says the climate deal that replaces Kyoto in 2012 must hold those countries to binding targets, which Kyoto failed to do.

Canada's insistence on U.S. involvement is not the only sign of a stalemate in Bali. None of the big three polluters have offered any hint of accepting the targets that Baird calls a prerequisite for a deal.

     The major developing economies (India, China) are not going agree to forgo development; and the United States--sensibly--is not going to agree to spin our economy into a recession (or worse).  Moreover, virtually no country that signed onto Kyoto has even kept its commitments to that treaty.

     The result of Bali will be the same as the result of all other "do good" international environmental schemes-- a lot of high-sounding rhetoric designed to make everyone feel good without ultimately doing much of anything.  Which is probably good, since (as discussed in many previous Posts) it is not at all clear there is really "anything" to do "something" about.

Full post as published by Environmental Legal Blogs on December 09, 2007 (boomark / email).