The Real Story behind Durban/COP 17 through Twitter « UD/RK Samhälls Debatt

The traveling UN circus is over for this time. This was the 17th show on the road so far.

Some highlights

Durban debrief: What do you think of the new climate agreement? - Your Community

CBC community members were quick to react to the latest developments, but few shared Kent's "cautiously optimistic" stance. Most were skeptical, if not downright cynical about the future of international climate negotiations.

• "These deals are meaningless hot air. The only thing that will stop people using oil/gas is a cheaper alternative. Let's put all our energy into finding a real alternative which does not rely on human goodwill." - BigHamPie
• "Have they reached a deal on reaching a deal to shelve the deal yet?" - Raving
• An agreement to reach an agreement that no one will live up to is what the headline should say. Another conference, another waste of peoples' tax dollars." - bmiller
• "I am sure that the carbon footprint from this meeting far exceeds any good done here." - KamHam
• "As long as self interest is the first priority we are all doomed." - noonespecial
• " In other words, not one red cent [from Canada] until everyone has agreed to binding emission reductions. Has anyone heard the latest estimate of when hell is going to freeze over?" - Jim Cripwell

Philip Stott: The BASIC Truth About Durban

The basic truth about Durban, the latest and 17th Feydeau farce passing as serious UN climate talks, is simple: the BASIC countries - Brazil, South Africa, India, and China - played a blinder.

They outwitted comprehensively the ever-zealous, naive, and hypocritical EU to ensure that they achieved their fundamental goals, which were to delay any agreement on a replacement for the failing Kyoto Protocol until at least 2015, and any actual action to cut emissions until at least 2020. And, of course, by then, the plate tectonics of world politics may have altered even more radically, so that further delays will be eminently possible, or the global warming narrative - we can only hope - will have withered away permanently into perennial greenhouse history.

Quote of the Week – what Durban is really about | Watts Up With That?

The UN plan will shift wealth from the first world’s poor to the third world’s rich without making any difference in climate control.

Here’s reaction to #COP17 from @bjornlomborg: “The...

Here’s reaction to #COP17 from @bjornlomborg: “The final outcome is a classic climate negotiation outcome. At the brink of negotiation collapse, COP17 comes up with a text that can arguably be seen as a solution but won’t really do anything.