COP21 – A Non-Binding Meaningless Agreement, More a COP-OUT

13th December 2015 / Global

Fantastic news from our much venerated and esteemed world leaders. Finally, they have thrashed out a deal that is going to save the human species from extinction and mother earth can now breathe a little sigh of O2 and a little less CO2 as a direct result of COP21.

From the BBC Headline: Has history been made at COP21? with Environment Correspondent chirping; “I’m not a fan of hyperbole, but it would be churlish to say the adoption of the Paris Agreement was anything other than a globally, historic moment. This carefully worded document that balances the right of countries to develop with the need to protect the planet is a truly world changing instrument.”

And three hours later, the little less enthusiastic BBC headline: “COP21 climate change summit reaches deal in Paris” and it’s Science correspondent unambiguously affirming “A deal to attempt to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2C has been agreed at the climate change summit in Paris after two weeks of intense negotiations.”

Notice the terms “carefully worded” and “attempt”.

The politicians representing 93 percent of the world, congregated upon the terrorist capital of Europe amid France’s new state of emergency to indulge in one gargantuan taxpayer funded knees-up in which “leaders” enjoyed all the cultural benefits of Paris for a couple of weeks. All this in the comfort of knowing they won’t be attacked by protestors (as they were all arrested) and promptly wasted hundreds of millions of varying currencies whilst creating copious quantities of greenhouse gases from their private 747’s and 5 litre bullet proof, chauffeur driven Merc’s and then achieved the sum total of …. nil.

Typical of political propaganda spewed out by the establishment mainstream press we are subjected to the “hyperbole” of such great success for which all the common people should stand in awe of their formidable negotiation skills. After all, this is an historical agreement in its sheer scale and magnitude – right?

When Barack Obama takes full advantage of the situation, crowing about American leadership, you should, if anything, hear some high-pitched alarm bells. Let’s be fair – the black dude has pretty well lied about everything from start to finish on just about everything, whilst achieving nothing much.

However, it appears not is all well on saving the world. Nick Dearden, director of campaign group Global Justice Now, said: “It’s outrageous that the deal that’s on the table is being spun as a success when it undermines the rights of the world’s most vulnerable communities and has almost nothing binding to ensure a safe and liveable climate for future generations.”

As it turned out, the targets set by nations will not be binding under the deal struck in Paris. The attempt to impose emissions targets on countries was one of the main reasons why the Copenhagen talks in 2009 failed and this “historic” agreement is only historic because they’ve managed to enhance previous failures by ever greater margins, whilst convincing the masses of the opposite. This is Propaganda at its finest.

In the end, the two week banquet of sudden global co-operation (think of the country by country cohesion over Syria, deteriorating East/West relations, Mid-East and Ukrainian wars, biggest refugee march since WW2, currency wars, TTIP, etc) presented the world with THIS 31 page flyer outlining the world’s intentions to agree on something and then not bind or enforce any state and then pushes out the agreement to 2050. Unbeknown to everyone but the negotiators, due to some ambiguous and deliberately swashbuckling wording, all countries can do pretty much what they want until 2099 by which time all human life will have asphyxiated and it won’t matter.

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It stands to reason that countries such as India, China, Russia, most countries in Africa, the Gulf states and any country that is either emerging or an oil producer will not agree to the cuts required to see significant changes in emissions. Combined, they represent more half of the population of the world and state that targets are not in their sights until 2100 (that bit is in the agreement). And, from their point of view, why should they when the US pumps out ten times the emissions of India and the EU six times.

Huge emission reductions in western countries would be required to make any difference and those particular “leaders” won’t allow their economies to be emphatically crushed and level the global economic playing field.

As Global Justice writes in its first sentence on COP21 – “The UN climate negotiations in Paris show no sign of being less dominated by corporate interests than the last ones.”

As the old saying goes – follow the money. There’s no profit in reducing emissions. There’s not as much profit in renewable sources such as solar because Exxon and Shell can’t patent the sun or harness its energy to the exclusion of everyone else, even though one government is trying – no seriously. Asteroid mining is now made legal after Barack Obama gives US citizens the right to own parts of celestial bodies (but no-one else of course), in a new law called the “U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act” in yet another desperate act of global domination.

All these wonderful declarations and agreements are rendered completely useless in a world where economies depend on maximum output of energy – hence the focus on GDP which is entirely concentrated on growth, not sustainability.

One should also point out that it is easy for a politician to agree to these ‘historical’ moments and then not be there to be accountable for them, a bit like Tony Blair and his enduring desire to save the people of Iraq from Saddam Hussain.

It is irrelevant whether you believe in climate change because of the industrious nature of humans – COP21 is a COP-OUT yet again – at least that bit is consistent.

From Global Justice again “We believe that what is needed is system change, not climate change. This change will not be made by corporations or world leaders. Rather it will be made by us as a global movement of citizens.”

Meanwhile, enjoy an image of some local people in Beijing relaxing and exercising in the mid-morning ~~sun~~ smog of last week that has pollution readings off the scale reminiscent of London’s “pea-soupers” of 1905. I believe we have a long way to go yet before we reach any meaningful agreements on climate change.