the problem is that the developed countries have polluted environment since the industrial revolution. the emerging economies like India and china, only did for last few decades. so logically the developed countries should pay and assist developing countries in aid and technology. so the developing countries won’t have to go through their development path which is polluting the environment as those developed countries did for over hundred years.

however, developed countries have a lot of obligations like social welfare payments which developing countries have none of them, and with the financial crisis, in deed, developed countries have no money.

but what about technology aid? for too long, the developed countries use their media, shifting blame to others but themselves, like their own countrymen, it always blame their government.

it is time for developed countries do something. as of now, it is still largely the developed countries polluting the environment, so action, any decency from developed countries are needed.

China: http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/zxxx/t648096.htm

US: http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=25188&docId=l:1095618065&start=10

from andrew light’s article:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/12/showdown_copenhagen.html

“At the beginning of last week Chinese negotiators—who clearly knew about the possibility of this agreement from both the APEC meeting and Beijing summit—began decrying the idea as a surprise worked out behind closed doors. These protests over the Danish text continued into Wednesday of this week when Rasmussen assumed the role of president of the meeting—as is customary in advance of the arrival of other global leaders—with an entire morning of negotiating wasted with speeches from the floor from the Chinese and other parties that the Danish text (there were actually several versions of it) had been “parachuted” into the meeting.

After those events several parties in the know assured me that the Danish compromise was dead and that, at best, the meeting might go back to discussing the LCA text as a possible but very improbable move forward.

I think part of the Chinese objections to the Danish compromise was Kabuki theatre, just part of the atmospherics that commonly plague these meetings where parties rarely talk directly to each other but negotiate in large blocks. By and large China negotiates with the G-77.”

of course mr. light does feel the process is to be blamed, but many people involved with international law are feeling that the UN in general is a miserable place to get anything done, cuz, well, nothing gets done. corruption, or arcane procedural process? or a bit of both? i personally am not ahead of this learning curve, i’m better sorting out the bureaucratic mess holding us back on these shores than brokering with the world’s most corrupt/inept leaders…

speaking of which, y is it we apparently voted for president of the WORLD? is there no real leadership outside the US? y is that?

anyways, the “china excuse” i always thought had to do with our senators at home…u know, china won’t reduce emissions so y should we? some have explained china’s behavior by pointing out that they had nothing to lose…or gain. nothing was being offered to them to do anything. this is where our negotiators have to get serious, cuz while the US needs to do its fair share, we are not just handing out money to china, and they still need to do their share.

i mean, we can pay brazil for them to NOT burn down their rainforests, cuz we all use the rainforest for oxygen…but china is just as capable as we are, to using alternative energy to coal, and they can fund it too. no one should get incentive money for not polluting.

the comment about sovereignty–i don’t think any country can discuss infringement upon sovereignty–that’s a conservative right talking point brought up to downplay the importance of this agreement to the skeptic public, and continue to derail the legislation here at home in the US.

we have entered into all sorts of treaties, we do it all the time. treaties are law at the same level as our constitution. we should be more concerned that we follow them, u know, like not torturing people…oh, as abe said “Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws?”

Its very easy to judge who’s serious about the climate and who’s not by just looking at what each country does regardless of Copenhagen, the EU do not need China’s approval to make all the cuts and China do not need EU’s approval. What’s happening on the ground is China is leading and will dominate the renewable energy industry, already making a bulk of the world’s solar cells and wind turbines, and have intenal target of 45% reduction of carbon intensity. The EU too, from Spain to Germany already installed a sizeable amount of renewable energy and France’s main energy source is already nuclear. The only ones left behind when it comes to action are, ironically the US and the UK, both seem to be trying to make up their lack of action with a spam of words.