I hope that someone else will offer their perspective on this meeting. Mine is that it accomplished very little. But I was amused that Monckton used Myanmar's microphone to announce that global T had not increased in 16 years (see our related Daily Mail discussion here). For this, he was banned from all future UN climate conferences. Escorted out by security guards. Ouch. I don't doubt he did this for 'some reason', but I can't quite imagine what it was. A new book to be published? If you feel sorry for his ill treatment, buy his books! Otherwise, there seems to have not been much accomplished at Doha. Developed countries may in the futuretransfer more funds to 'the poor' to adapt, mitigate, and sequester more C from the atmosphere. Or not. As king of the world, I would have just cancelled this conference, because rich countries are feeling economically stressed now. Perhaps someone here can offer another perspective.
It seems to have struck the denier hornet's nest with a stick as witness the recent spate of postings here. But otherwise, it accomplished what was expected . . . not much. This is not my area of expertise but I can observe the 'noise machine' when it turns up the volume. I was not aware of this character but after reading the Wiki description, my first thought was too much inbreeding. He certainly fits the pattern of Monte Python's, upper-class twit. The time between a paper is released and its wide-spread distribution has all but made conferences into just a waste of time and labor. I can appreciate the importance meeting folks 'in real life,' it isn't clear that this conference was such a good use of time. Sad to say, the last 'technical' conference I attended was a week of lost labor for very little good. Bob Wilson
The fact that they actually agreed on SOMETHING is news worthy. It's not enough, but if we do nothing, nothing will get done. We must start somewhere. Icarus
Russia got railroaded out of reusing some C-emission permits also. Something along those lines. Maybe someone else wants to tell that story here. I agree with Icarus that the current pace of action is painfully slow. I hope it does not turn out to be a big mistake. But 'donor' countries did not go to Doha prepared to commit. China, Russia, India, etc. did not go prepared to commit to limiting future emissions. When the political will materializes, future COP conferences will begin to bear fruit. As an optimist I say when, not if.
One step backward. Strange video Ukip's Lord Monckton thrown out of Doha climate talks | Environment | guardian.co.uk I wonder if someone from Myanmar in England would be arrested for impersonating an English delegate? I thought they agreed that some people might agree to something. I didn't see any agreement to actually do anything at all. IMHO they riled up people against these conferences but took no positive action. Doha climate conference yields more heat than light - The Irish Times - Mon, Dec 10, 2012 Can you call it progress when Russia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand will not sign up again for ghg reductions if China doesn't and China doesn't sign up.
I suspect we won't see meaningful agreement(s) until people have to vote with their salt-water, wetted feet. One definition of a 'leader' is someone who sees which way the people are moving and runs to get in front. Sad to say, this will often be too late to reverse the immediate effects. Bob Wilson
USA is unexpectedly meeting President Obama's prior gentleman's agreement of reduced CO2 due to the nat gas boom, and I believe USA has reserved the right to commit ourselves to manadated reductions in CO2 towards the end of the Obama admin, if he so desires. So it will be interesting to see the new Obama admin cabinet appointments for DOE and EPA to see if Global Warming reduction is a new objective for Obama. If so that will be some interesting debates.
Psychological research Conservatives can be persuaded to care more about the environment, study finds tells us that environmentalists' messages are being poorly presented. Emphasize 'sanctity/purity' instead. Might be true, I do not know. But framing it with those somewhat loaded terms may get us into one of those Godwin's Law situations. Seen it happen before, but thankfully not here at good old PC.
