Poznan breakthrough?
December 2nd 2008 23:26
No-one is expecting too much of an outcome from the Poznan conference but there are some positive noises coming out of it despite concernes that the Global Economic Slowdown will see countries wanting to put out money fires rather than worrying about fighting Climate Change.
The first and most important difference from this year to last year is the attitude of the United States, Obama has embraced aggressive targets and is using a transition to a low carbon economy as a cornerstone of his economic recovery plan. Although it is hard to imagine they will be at the conference in full force before taking power, the lack of huge headwind the Americans were creating in the past should make the conference far smoother and leave the door open for agreement in Copnhagen next year.
The next significant piece of positive news out of the conference is the confidence and determination by the Chinese that agreement will be reached by Copenhagen next year, and their willingness to sit down and talk cuts. This time last year they were opposed to restrictions that may effect economic development. In the last twelve months they have taken great steps towards positioning their economy to benefit from a transition to a low carbon economy and embrace the opportunitiy it presents; for them to emerge as a technology leader and a massive economic winner from this huge economic shift , so they are embracing the talks a lot more.
I have alwyas been cynical and stated that true agreement will be reached when it makes economic sense, countries are realising it will be economically beneficial for them to participate in the energy technology revolution that will take place with or without them!
Whether or not these two changes represent a true break through remains to be seen, i remain optimistic. In the meantime the recession is doing some of the work for us stopping some of the frivilous consumption that was pumping toxic cheap goods down our throats.
cheers
Louie
The first and most important difference from this year to last year is the attitude of the United States, Obama has embraced aggressive targets and is using a transition to a low carbon economy as a cornerstone of his economic recovery plan. Although it is hard to imagine they will be at the conference in full force before taking power, the lack of huge headwind the Americans were creating in the past should make the conference far smoother and leave the door open for agreement in Copnhagen next year.
The next significant piece of positive news out of the conference is the confidence and determination by the Chinese that agreement will be reached by Copenhagen next year, and their willingness to sit down and talk cuts. This time last year they were opposed to restrictions that may effect economic development. In the last twelve months they have taken great steps towards positioning their economy to benefit from a transition to a low carbon economy and embrace the opportunitiy it presents; for them to emerge as a technology leader and a massive economic winner from this huge economic shift , so they are embracing the talks a lot more.
I have alwyas been cynical and stated that true agreement will be reached when it makes economic sense, countries are realising it will be economically beneficial for them to participate in the energy technology revolution that will take place with or without them!
Whether or not these two changes represent a true break through remains to be seen, i remain optimistic. In the meantime the recession is doing some of the work for us stopping some of the frivilous consumption that was pumping toxic cheap goods down our throats.
cheers
Louie
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