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| Santos-paid Australian pavilion at COP26 (source) |
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Our world is interconnected.
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It’s official, the Bureau of Meteorology has declared a La Niña event. It’s the second La Niña in a row, which is relatively unusual. Perhaps because of that it’s expected to be less intense and less prolonged than is common with such events (it’s expected to last until next January, but it could last the whole summer).
Okay, but what is La Niña and why does it matter?
An idealised, naive appreciation of poor nations, I believe, has become prevalent or at least very common among rich-nations’ modern socialists. It’s part of a broader phenomenon, thus it would be too long to explain how we’ve got to this point, but suffice it to say here that such infatuation is largely based on moral and ethical judgements and in a falling out of love with the domestic working class of rich nations.
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On Thursday November 4th, just four days into COP26, Leigh Sales, the ABC’s 7.30 presenter, interviewed Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org.
Among other things, Sales asked: “India makes the point that it’s a developing nation and so it needs extra time to level the playing field and catch up. Is that a reasonable argument?”
It proved to be a prescient question, for less than two weeks later, hours before the draft resolution was due to be declared approved, India’s Minister for the Environment and lead climate negotiator Bhupender Yadav argued his last-minute proposal to further amend the draft (phasing down instead of phasing out):
“How can anyone expect that developing countries can make promises about phasing out coal and fossil fuel subsidies? Developing countries have still to deal with their development agendas and poverty eradication.”I think McKibben’s answer to Sales’ question indicates why Yadav’s motion was self-defeating and suggests why so much of modern socialist thought is painfully wrongheaded:
“It would be a reasonable argument, except for two things. One, physics is uninterested in it, and it is going to cause havoc for India and everybody else if the planet keeps warming, probably more havoc for India than most places.”The full transcript
Was COP26 a success, a failure, or something in between?
Notwithstanding old American bloviating academics intent on giving a positive spin to COP26 on behalf of the US President, assessments seem to vary over the bad side of the spectrum.
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Scotty from Marketing, Prime Minister of Australia, attended COP26. Federal Minister for Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor was with him. After a few days, both departed. However, they left behind James Isbister, a high-ranking and presumably well-paid bureaucrat (apparently a disabled one, unable to speak, too) as the Commonwealth’s representative. Or, at least, that’s how Isbister describes himself: “Australia's Ambassador for the Environment, Mr Jamie Isbister - promoting Australia's interests on international environment issues. DFAT Mental Health Champion”.
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| “The difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees is a death sentence for us.” If all the pledges are fulfilled, the world is heading to 2.4ºC. (source) |
As COP26 was drawing to a close early this Sunday morning (AEDT), Shauna said:
So, it happens … again.
Hours after Scotty from Marketing came out explaining how his infallible personal charm had mended diplomatic relations with France (“I said g’day, I said g’day”), Emmanuel Macron said in front of the cameras, for all to hear and see, that he knows Scotty lied to him.
