Global hot air
Presidents Hu Jintao and Barack Obama are busy men. They have big countries to run and little time for idle chit-chat and time-wasting meetings. Their nations are the two most polluting in the world, so neither could wriggle out of attending this week's UN climate change conference in New York. More is the mystery, then, why they contributed so little to the discussion and failed to give the leadership the world so badly needs in tackling the problem.
Hu was expected to outline a policy that would make China a world leader in addressing climate change. Speculation before he spoke on Tuesday was rife with all manner of fantastical targets on greenhouse gas emissions. His 10-minute presentation turned out to be a fizzer. No, there was no shift in the belief that developing and developed countries had different responsibilities; the West's remained footing the bill with technology. Not a word was said about carbon caps or setting specific goals. Climate change was a problem the Chinese government recognised and understood, and efforts would be made to lower carbon emissions. Thank you for your attention.
Obama's first major speech on climate change was even more of a let-down. One of his missions on attaining the presidency was to right America's environmental wrongs. A climate bill with disappointingly weak targets is before the Senate, but there will be no action on it before December's Copenhagen summit to hammer out a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol. He told the New York meeting that 'unease is no excuse for inaction'. No mention was made of emissions targets, nor were firm financial commitments forthcoming. Have a nice day.
Japan's prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, barely a week in office, offered the best hope of leadership. He reiterated an ambitious pledge for his country to cut emissions by 25 per cent by 2020, using 1990 levels as the base. But Japan is no shining example; it is wrestling with meeting its targets under the 1997 Kyoto pact. Leadership is not possible without a record to hold up as evidence of commitment.
If no nation wants to take the lead or can prove it is a worthy leader, then an individual must take on the task. Former US vice-president Al Gore comes readily to mind - he won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in raising awareness of global warming. But his credentials would seem to have been tarnished by revelations that his lifestyle does not befit a person dedicated to the cause. His 9,000 sq ft home in Tennessee chews up 12 times the average energy needs of other residences in the area, while his 100ft boat speaks more of luxury and wealth than necessity.
The lack of leadership raises an interesting question: if climate change is so pressing an issue, why aren't the people who are able to do something about it responding in a like manner? There was no shortage of prompt action when the global financial crisis hit a year ago. There is much political rhetoric on climate change, but the carbon trading schemes and much-hyped caps that have resulted are only nibbling around the edges of the problem, not confronting it head-on.
An office colleague is deeply sceptical about climate change. Weather patterns are different every year, he contends. How can scientists predict what temperatures will be like at the end of the century when weather forecasters can't even accurately look more than a week or so ahead. Politics and hidden agendas, not common sense, are driving the discussion, he says.
I agree only on the latter point. There is ample scientific proof that polluting emissions are causing temperatures to rise at abnormally fast rates. Countries cannot - and should not - stifle growth and development in the name of cutting emissions. The lack of leadership would seem to be down to them being unable to do anything more constructive than express concern.
Technology, not policies, is the solution. Nuclear power is the best present alternative to coal-, oil- and gas-fired electricity plants. Long-term, though, scientists and innovators are key. What they stumble upon, not half-hearted measures, will be the future.
Peter Kammerer is a senior writer at the Post
