Last Tango in Paris

Kyoto was a start, if a rather pathetic one, to address climate change as an international issue.  Copenhagen was a dud as parochial interests tore apart any prospect of useful action.  Now the heavyweights will gather in Paris to discuss the death of the planet.  One encouraging aspect is that the major leaders will be present.  If the major countries only sent ministers or attaches, then it would be less effective than a sewing circle meeting.  China gets it.  Often in many major cities the air is often barely breathable because of pollution, and though only indirectly connected to climate change, the Chinese leadership know they have to solve both problems.  Some major efforts in alternative energy are afoot in China.

Most European countries get it with Germany and Scandinavia leading the way, with countries like Spain a leader in wind.  My county of birth, the UK, is valiantly trying with wind, waves and tide, because alas, it is not blessed with much in the way of solar resources which was a major reason I ended up in OZ.  No sun, no fun.  The long dark winter puts a big hole in solar economics.  The position of the US is dependent as always on the whims of the political process.  Obama now in favour, if the ‘Trumpet’ is elected, it all gets flushed down the can, along with anything else you thought might be useful in a democracy.

Australia’s stance in supporting climate action has been improved by orders of magnitude by the change of Liberal leadership.  Dear leader Tony would have approached the Paris talks with his favourite tactic of ‘white-anting’.  Say all the right things, do all the wrong things in the background.  Get amongst them and make any progress unworkable. Our saboteur extraordinary.  Dear leader Malcolm, bless his heart, might actually say it how it is, “Houston, we have a problem”.  The southern 2/3 rds of Oz likely to get hotter and drier.  Those down south don’t need hotter and drier, they have lots already.  In the tropics the weather figures likely to stay the same, but arrive in more intense doses.  I don’t need more intense.

The low lying countries of the pacific get it, they may not exist in the new world.  Flood prone areas get it and are spread around the world from Bangladesh to Amsterdam, Lagos to Dar es Salam.  New York to London, New Orleans to Shanghai.

Russia is a bit of a worry as if it warms up in the high latitudes, it might make Siberia actually inhabitable …well, if you have the hide of a rhino to stop the mozzies.

I think, I hope and I believe that something substantive might come of the Paris conference.  Time is running out and kicking the can down the road heaps all our sins on our children.  Take the pain, make the gain and pay the price.  My generation has run up the tab.  Let’s pay it off.

If this climate conference does not produce any results, if the momentum and will for action on climate change falters….. then refer to my previous blog “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off”.