Post-Kyoto talks at Montreal ends with more talk

The Post-Kyoto Montreal 'save-the-planet' 'we're-all-going-to-die' Global Warming conference has come to an end. (I blogged about the conference last week if you recall). Below is a round-up of the outcome and some related stories from various sources. Many of the sources are disappointed at the lack of a result: I'm not. Oddly enough, the only one happy at the result seems to be the reality-free zone of the Greens's Frog Blog. "Fantastic news that the climate talks struck a deal of sorts," says the Frog linking to a carefully spun piece from the Herald.

"National and other Kyoto skeptics in the NZ political scene are now going to have to live with the fact that the Protocol is not going away," concludes the Frog. 'Not so,' is apparently the actual news:

Nations to pursue limits on emissions
Washington Post, Dec 11, 2005
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James M. Inhofe (R., Okla.) was skeptical of yesterday's pact, saying it would lead only to "a dead end economically." "Two weeks of costly deliberation only resulted in an agreement to deliberate some more, so Montreal was essentially a meeting about the next meeting," Inhofe said in a statement issued by his office. "The Kyoto Protocol... is a complete failure."

Global warming of a global village
Newsday, December 11, 2005
The 156 signers of the Kyoto global warming treaty ended their meetings in Montreal on Friday with China and India, the two giants of the developing world, still refusing to accept limits on greenhouse gas emissions after the treaty expires in 2012. Kyoto's curbs apply only to industrialized countries, with the hope that developing nations will be covered later. It's unclear now if or how that will ever happen...

Trail Goes Cold in Search for Climate Deal
The Times, December 9, 2005
The Montreal conference on global warming looks like ending tonight with no big agreement: nothing approaching the status of the Kyoto Protocol, and possibly nothing at all. That is not a tragedy. It is more like a success.One of the fortnight’s achievements is to have drawn attention to the difficulty of enforcing the Kyoto Protocol itself, never mind drafting a successor, given that so many countries are on course to breach it by an extravagant margin...

"Blair Deserts Kyoto" - "After years as an environmentalist champion, the British PM has admitted no one will negotiate 'another major treaty like Kyoto'" (Benny Peiser, Financial Post)

Australia: Forget Climate Target, Timetables
Reuters, December 9, 2005
Short-term targets and tight timetables are no solution to fighting climate change, Australia's environment minister said on Thursday on the sidelines of a U.N. climate conference. The talks have struggled to make headway on advancing the next phase of the Kyoto Protocol after 2012...

"U.S. said to be deeply angered by Martin's comments at climate conference" - "MONTREAL - With one day of talks to go at the UN climate conference, desperate efforts to draw the United States into the global effort to curb greenhouse emissions appear to have hit a brick wall, and [Canadian] Prime Minister Paul Martin is being blamed...

"Brazil won't bow to pressure for emissions cuts" - "MONTREAL, Dec 8 - Brazil does not intend to adopt mandatory curbs on emissions of heat-trapping gases, and industrialized countries must bear the main burden, Environment Minister Marina Silva said in an interview on Thursday." (Reuters)

"No Emissions Cuts for Developing Nations – Saudis" - "MONTREAL - Saudi Arabia said Thursday that the world's developing nations, including those that depend on oil revenues, should not be bound in the future by greenhouse gas emissions limits." (Reuters)

"Italian Environment Minister Won't Risk Damaging Businesses" - "Environment minister Altero Matteoli arriving in Montreal to take part in the UN conference on the climate said: "We cannot damage our businesses that must become competitive again" (AGI Online)

TCS COP 11 Coverage: Culture Shock in Montreal - As one of the very few scientists at the UN's climate meeting, I feel like an outsider. That's because I am....

"A shady deal from the climate-change charmers " - "IF A shifty salesman in a blue suit adorned with yellow stars appeared on your doorstep flogging a life insurance policy with “high, high costs and low, low returns”, would you turn over your hard-earned cash? Most probably you would shut the door in his face. But this is effectively what some nongovernmental organisations and governments are asking us to do when they call for drastic restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions in the name of saving us from climate change. " ( Kendra Okonski, Business Day)

"Work to take heat off" - "The Kyoto Protocol — an international treaty aimed at limiting emissions of greenhouse gases that are heating the planet — is on its deathbed. But even critics of the admittedly flawed agreement don't believe the treaty should merely be buried and forgotten." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

"Climate change theory barks up wrong tree, study shows" - "Climate scientists could be about to give oak, ash and maple a bad name. They warn today that expanding forests in the temperate zones of Europe, the US and Asia could add to global warming." (The Guardian)

TCS COP 11 Coverage: Nuclear Explosion at Montreal - Nuclear power shouldn't be pre-judged and excluded by international treaties dealing with climate change...

Nuclear Energy Debate Turns Radioactive at Climate Conference
CNSNews, December 8, 2005
Nuclear energy would reduce the world's dependence on fossil fuels and help cut greenhouse gas emissions, said advocates at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal. "Expanding nuclear energy is one way that we can actually [reduce] reliance on fossil fuels in a big way," said Patrick Moore, a founding member of Greenpeace..

Former Greenpeace Co-Founder Praises US for Rejecting Kyoto
CNSNews, December 8, 2005
A founding member of Greenpeace, who left the organization because he viewed it as too radical, praised the United States for refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol...

Freezing their globes off in Montreal - when warming meets cooling
If you've been wondering why the UN's Montreal mega-conference on Global Warming has received little coverage -- "what f'ing conference?" I hear you cry -- Rex Murphy has the answer. "Probably because of the cold weather," he says half seriously...

Related topics: Environment Global_Warming Politics-Greens Politics-World