Has a Worldwide Deal on Global Warming been put in Cold Storage?

The Copenhagen climate talks which was preceded by a huge media hype and global expectations on a deal between nations on climate mitigation proved to be a  spectacular failure. The main actors and emitters of GHG emissions US and China were not willing to ink any deal and except for non binding platitudes nothing was achieved. Also the attacks on the scientists of the IPCC  has led to doubts in the mind of common people whether the climate change evidence is conclusive .This has led to a drop in support for climate change mitigation in recent polls.

The US has been lagging  in passing a Climate Bill which supports “Offshore Drilling of Oil” and “Nuclear Energy”.Without Legislative approval , the US can’t move ahead plus China also does not seem willing to put its emissions under international scrutiny.Europe and Japan which have been the most proactive with climate change mitigation polices are also now facing budgetary pressures . It seems that the climate changes talks in Cancun,Mexico in December 2010 will also prove to as useless as the Copenhagen talks.The earliest movement is only expected in 2011 which also seems optimistic given the lackadaisical attitude of the governments. Only a major ecological disaster might get the world moving again.Till then Global Warming is in Cold Storage.The BP Oil Spill and the Highest Temperatures on record in 2010 by NOAA are warnings of the pernicious effects of  the worlds fossil fuel addiction.

China all but dashes hope of climate deal this year – Reuters

A senior Chinese climate official said on Tuesday that negotiators aim to seal a binding global pact on warming by the end of 2011, a blow to any lingering hopes the world could reach a deal at talks this year in Mexico. Zhenhua, who led China’s delegation to fractious negotiations in Copenhagen last year, said the only target for a December gathering in coastal Cancun city was a “positive result.”Top European and U.N. officials had already all but ruled out a deal this year, but Xie’s comments are the first time the world’s number one emitter has confirmed it also does not expect to seal a new pact in 2010.

Pension wealth at risk as climate priority slips – Reuters

Pension funds must shift more capital into low-carbon energy to drive long-term returns, British academic Nicholas Stern told Reuters Global Energy Summit, adding that a cold U.S. and European winter had sapped urgency on global warming.In another drag on action, a cold winter in politically influential parts of the North had combined with scandals over the repute of climate scientists, later exonerated.

“Nature played a funny trick on us,” said Stern. “It sent a cold winter through the chattering capitals of Europe and north-east United States.”Despite those particular, colder regions, America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) agency reported last week record high global temperatures in the first four months of 2010.

Polls have suggested growing apathy to climate change. A poll on Monday showing 62 percent of British people were interested in the issue, compared with 78 percent in 2007

Conoco, BP, Caterpillar Leave Climate Coalition – NYTimes

ConocoPhillips, Caterpillar Inc. and BP America have left the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of more than two-dozen companies and environmental groups lobbying Congress to pass greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade legislation.House climate legislation and Senate proposals to date have disadvantaged the transportation sector and its consumers, left domestic refineries unfairly penalized versus international competition, and ignored the critical role that natural gas can play in reducing GHG emissions,” ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO Jim Mulva explained in the statement. “We believe greater attention and resources need to be dedicated to reversing these missed opportunities, and our actions today are part of that efforts