Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 12/23/2009 12:40:29 AM PST by myknowledge
A writer and environmental activist who was present at the final Copenhagen climate talks says China sabotaged the deal and ensured Barack Obama would shoulder the blame.
While China's Premier Wen Jiabao insisted his government had played an "important and constructive" role, the talks in the Danish capital ended with a political accord rather than a binding agreement.
Mark Lynas, who was attached to the Maldives delegation, described what he saw at the talks as "profoundly shocking".
"I am certain that had the Chinese not been in the room, we would have left Copenhagen with a deal that had environmentalists popping champagne corks in every corner of the world," he wrote in the The Guardian.
"The truth is this: China wrecked the talks, intentionally humiliated Barack Obama, and insisted on an awful 'deal' so Western leaders would walk away carrying the blame.
He says Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and other Western leaders were visibly upset when China started "removing all the numbers that mattered" in the final talks, including emissions cuts by developed countries of 80 per cent by 2050.
"'Why can't we even mention our own targets?' demanded a furious [German Premier] Angela Merkel.
"Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, was annoyed enough to bang his microphone. Brazil's representative too pointed out the illogicality of China's position. Why should rich countries not announce even this unilateral cut?
"The Chinese delegate said no, and I watched, aghast, as Merkel threw up her hands in despair and conceded the point. Now we know why - because China bet, correctly, that Obama would get the blame for the Copenhagen accord's lack of ambition.
"But I saw Obama fighting desperately to salvage a deal, and the Chinese delegate saying "no", over and over again."
Lynas says the 2020 peaking year was then "replaced by woolly language" and the global 50 per cent cuts by 2050 were also removed.
"No-one else, perhaps with the exceptions of India and Saudi Arabia, wanted this to happen," Lynas said.
'Took the bait'
Lynas fears "the truth about what actually happened is in danger of being lost amid the spin and inevitable mutual recriminations".
"China's strategy was simple: block the open negotiations for two weeks, and then ensure that the closed-door deal made it look as if the west had failed the world's poor once again. And sure enough, the aid agencies, civil society movements and environmental groups all took the bait," he said.
"The failure was 'the inevitable result of rich countries refusing adequately and fairly to shoulder their overwhelming responsibility', said Christian Aid. 'Rich countries have bullied developing nations,' fumed Friends of the Earth International.
"All very predictable, but the complete opposite of the truth."
He is dismissive of the role played by Sudanese delegate Lumumba Di-Aping, who negotiated on behalf of China and developing countries, accusing Sudan of behaving as China's puppet and helping to create the "perfect stitch-up".
Lynas also said China carried out a clear diplomatic snub at the talks.
"The Chinese premier, Wen Jinbao, did not deign to attend the meetings personally, instead sending a second-tier official in the country's foreign ministry to sit opposite Obama himself," he said.
"The diplomatic snub was obvious and brutal, as was the practical implication: several times during the session, the world's most powerful heads of state were forced to wait around as the Chinese delegate went off to make telephone calls to his 'superiors'."
India's stance
India has already confirmed it worked with China and other emerging nations to ensure there were no legally binding targets at the talks.
India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh earlier faced parliament for the first time since the UN talks, saying the nation had "come out quite well in Copenhagen".
"We can be satisfied that we were able to get our way on this issue," declared Mr Ramesh, who has consistently said India would be one of the countries hardest hit by climate change.
He said India, China, South Africa and Brazil had emerged as a powerful force and said the group had protected its right to continued economic growth.
Mr Ramesh said India would continue to work with its allies "to ensure that the interests of developing countries and India in particular are protected in the course of negotiations in 2010 and beyond".
Britain's blame
Britain has also said the meeting was lurched into farce and pointed the finger of blame at Beijing.
While British Prime Minister Gordon Brown refrained from naming countries, his climate change minister Ed Miliband said China had led a group of countries that "hijacked" the negotiations which had at times presented "a farcical picture to the public".
"We did not get an agreement on 50 per cent reductions in global emissions by 2050 or on 80 per cent reductions by developed countries," he wrote in The Guardian.
"Both were vetoed by China, despite the support of a coalition of developed and the vast majority of developing countries."
China, the world's top polluter, doggedly resisted pressure for outside scrutiny of its emissions.
Obviously, the ChiComs have realized that the whole CO2 thing is a fraud. The Sun and the Volcanos control how hot the earth is, not man.
Thank you, China.
>> Sanity must be a fickle spirit that appears where ever and whenever it feels like it. Whatever moves it it’s a welcome breeze when it comes.
Then there are those of us who chalk it up to the LORD, working in His mysterious ways.
Sun Tzu at his finest...
What is funny, China liked Bush and the left is now trying to make them the new Bush.
it does sound like China and India have saved the planet from the Gaea worshipers and the neomarxists trying to destroy the economies of the West...which, when you think about it, is pretty freaking ironic...
You gotta love the Chinese on this one....
But it’s also India Brazil and many other developing nations that “sabotaged” the global warming lunatics from developed nations
Cheers for China and India for not buying into fake science
I make liberals cry when I tell them that China will undermine all their CO2 emissions schemes.
I love their clean coal scam which basically means you invert the smokestack and pump CO2 into the ground to be “sequestered” as they put it. Most harebrained enviro-scheme ever. Most unscientific scheme concocted by liberal arts majors
What is 0bama but a liberal arts major with zero science smarts in his empty skull?
The ChiComs....being the heirs to the Middle Kingdom racists that they are....loved rubbing the Kenyan’s nose in the dirt. Making him look the fool. The blathering nincompoop fool flailing about at imaginary ghosts of global warming
Actually Angela Merkel, Gordon Brown, Kevin Rudd and other lib leaders are just as idiotic and unscientific
I just love how these so-called environmentalists want to decrease the output of CO2—a by-product of every manufacturing process, as well as of every living thing—while completely ignoring some of the serious pollution problems that still exist.
Mexico, right across our border, has some of the most seriously polluted places one can imagine. The maquiladoras create absolute cesspools of toxic waste, and the borders are no more efficient at keeping the pollution out of the US than they are at keeping the illegal “immigrants” out.
If those self-proclaimed “environmentalists” really care about the environment, why don’t they put their efforts into cleaning up the areas around the maquiladoras—into helping find a solution to keep them from polluting so much while keeping up their manufacturing capability that’s so essential to lifting Mexican citizens out of poverty? Or—heck—there are so many constructive things that can be done in the name of the environment—but I guess those actually require work. Getting hysterical about a non-polluting natural gas requires no effort at all.
Remember, China ALWAYS acts out of self-interest. They were NOT going to agree to anything that hampered their economy. On top of that, they wanted to block anything that would kill OUR economy because a broke America can’t make good on its massive debt.
They know AGW is a scam, and further that they stand to lose a LOT if it continues. Ditto Russia.
Isn’t it scary that the actual communists understand the AGW hoax and its potential for economic damage better than many in the so-called “free” West?
The only reason they didn’t IMHO is because they hold so many US treauries (ie debt). A bankrupt US means a bankrupt China.
Now, if they (and India for thay matter) succeed in moving to a hard gold-backed currency - which they are clearly trying to do - then they’ll do exactly what you suggest. Our only hope is that sanity prevails in the US first...
1000 Thanks to China for sabotaging the climate talks!
Small Dead Animals picked it up and a SDA reader posted a very good translation. Scroll down a little to make sure you get the reader's version rather the than google translation.
Wretchard at Belmont Club linked up to the Small Dead Animals post with one of his own. As always, great comments at BC.
Interesting reading. I haven't seen this mentioned on any other German source. Die Welt is a quality source, IMHO.
Good post. Who thought we would ever see the day when:
- China takes stronger capitalist pro-growth actions than the US during the mini-depression, and sees a much faster recovery
- China maintains a strong pro-manufacturing, pro-jobs economy while the US sheds jobs and continues to penalize manufacturing
- China gets it right on enviro-terrorism while the US passes the greens billions in new cash and new squeaky toys
- China aggressively runs around the globe locking-in future fossil energy positions at the lowest costs in decades (while the US sits on its hands and scuttles nearly all new coal fired electric plants because of regulatory uncertainty)
Now tell me, which nation is capitalist? Which nation has the biggest political risks when it comes to 30-40 year energy decisions?
China is a totalitarian capitalist nation.
There are thousands of private for profit companies in China including many U.S. companies.
In communism/marxism private property and private companies are not allowed.
A lot of what you say is true. But China is not a communist country.
China is a totalitarian capitalist nation.
There are thousands of private for profit companies in China including many U.S. companies.
In communism/marxism private property and private companies are not allowed
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