Copenhagen: Glorified Begging

It won’t come as a surprise to many to learn that the Copenhagen talks are hitting some, uh, speedbumps.  The BBC’s ‘environmental correspondent’ Richard Black today reports on the impasse that seems to have developed between the world’s rich and poor nations.  As it turns out,

“Blocs representing poor countries vulnerable to climate change have been adamant that rich nations must commit to emission cuts beyond 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol”… but… ”Delegations were angry at what they saw as moves by the Danish host government to sideline talks on more emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.”

So, to put it plainly, developing nations want greater commitments to reducing emissions by the large nations in accordance with the economically unrealistic Kyoto agreement.  Rich nations want to renegotiate those terms.

It appears the mighty African delegation is leading the charge with other emerging markets standing in solidarity with the Africans.  These ‘blocs’ have staged a walk-out demanding commitments to Kyoto targets.  The clearly embarrassed UN climate convention head stated that talks would resume “in the afternoon”.  On such optimism you could be forgiven for thinking that the walk-out was really just the bored African delegates stepping out for a spot of lunch to sample some of Copenhagen’s finest.

Black points out as an aside, but a revealing one, that last week talks were also temporarily halted when Tuvalu “forced a suspension after insisting that proposals to amend the UN climate convention and Kyoto Protocol be debated in full“.  Tuvawho?  Black helpfully fills in: Tuvalu is a “small Pacific island nation“.  Ah, now it makes sense.  If its delegates have bought into the fallacious Al Gore ocean-level predictions then no wonder Tuvalu is pressing with some urgency. 

Never heard of Tuvalu?  Me neither.  Now, to be fair, Tuvalu no doubt wants to avoid ending up as Toodaloo as much as the next Pacific remotesville.  But it really is the perfect example of why the WTO talks are forever mired in inaction: small count-for-nothing states are allowed to come to a contrived global negotiating table and act as if they were Russia or France.  It not only potentially relegates the Copenhagen talks to the ever-growing squibheap of international ‘conventions’, but it also reveals the profoundly ugly side of Copenhagen – international begging.

Poor nations, to put it plainly, don’t give a hoot about climate change, man made or not.  I should know, I’m a South African, and my government doesn’t give a continental about climate.  The issue is a small black dot next to the planetary-proportioned problems of poverty, poor productivity, and pathetically slow development. 

Ah, but wait, here’s the rub.  Poor nations actually DO care about climate - A lot.  Why?  Because scientists, environmentalists, and carbon fund managers in rich nations tell them they should.  After all, it pays.  The greater restrictions on emissions, the more carbon credits rich nations will buy from poor ones to offset their harmful, bellowing CO2 emissions.  Of course poor nations want stricter emissions targets, it means more money, more funds flowing into black hole bureaucracies, more loot into the coffers of today’s president for life.

For Russia, Copenhagen is time to observe the collective insanity of other G8 countries.  For China, it’s about looking responsible but flipping the bird to any meaningful implementation or control of Chinese output.  For the West, it’s about doing something, but not too much too soon.  But for the poor world, it’s another UN sanctioned hand-out fest.  Climate change is another excuse for staying poor.  Climate change is another means for lavish handouts in the form of carbon offset payments.  Climate change is another Northern Hemisphere guilt trip.  Climate change is another blame-game against the West for poverty and inequality.

Copenhagen is a begging summit cloaked in climatic moral posturing.  The only question now is: how much more money are the rich going to recklessly throw down the drain of endless developing world squanderidge?

UPDATE: Mike Shedlock has more on the cap and trade fiasco.