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Climate Change – some optimism about Paris Summit

Clive Hamilton: Kant at Le Bourget
It is natural to adopt a cynical view of the global climate change conference now taking place outside Paris. Behind the noble public declarations self-interest is ruthlessly asserted in the private negotiating rooms. Rules are bent, scrutiny is resisted and numbers are manipulated to hide emissions.

Yet from another standpoint, there is something magnificent taking place at Le Bourget. For here we have, under the auspices of the United Nations, the leaders of all of the countries of the world coming together to attempt to agree on a collective solution to a common threat. …

The unwelcome truth is that, taken together, their visions of how they will pursue their sovereignty are incompatible with the common goal. So the magnificence of the event takes on a different hue when, as Bruno Latour commented, the nations of the world are saying: “This is impossible; we cannot live together on this Earth.”http://theconversation.com/kant-at-le-bourget-52015

Heather Zichal: In Paris climate summit, a beginning not an end.
No single agreement should be expected to be the final solution to the climate crisis, writes Heather Zichal, a former climate adviser to President Obama. http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2015/1207/In-Paris-climate-summit-a-beginning-not-an-end &http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/6288917841504677619

With a 1.5 degrees celsius target, the climate-justice movement is poised to score a surprise win.
Pressure from activists and vulnerable countries has shifted the discussion away from a 2 degrees C target—a virtual death sentence for millions of people.
http://www.thenation.com/article/with-1-5-degrees-celsius-target-climate-justice-movement-poised-to-score-surprise-win/ &http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/-8082012703502401428

Erwin Jackson: Memo to Paris climate delegates: compromise now or world is fukt
Trying to follow what happens at a climate summit is a bit like trying to swim up a waterfall.
http://www.crikey.com.au/2015/12/08/memo-to-paris-climate-delegates-compromise- now-or-world-is-fukt/

December 11, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general