Blowing hot air: Governmental carbon-cutting promises are inadequate
Paris will soon host the 21st global climate conference (November 30-December 11) — and environmentalists have high hopes that this time, negotiators will agree on a carbon-cutting treaty.
In 20 years there have been a few highs such as a treaty negotiated in Kyoto in 1997 and many lows like the political chaos and disappointment of Copenhagen in 2009. There has been one constant: despite all the talk, there has been no real impact on temperature rises. The Kyoto Protocol fell apart, and the only significant global carbon cuts have come from economic downturns, not international pacts.