WikiLeaks cables reveal how US manipulated climate accord

alan · #1 (**permalink**) 12-03-2010, 10:33 PM

WikiLeaks cables reveal how US manipulated climate accord | Environment | The Guardian

You really need to read the entire article to better understand the scam (despite the appeal to global warming) that seems based upon bribery.

Here are a few snips,

Quote:

Hidden behind the save-the-world rhetoric of the global climate change negotiations lies the mucky realpolitik: money and threats buy political support; spying and cyberwarfare are used to seek out leverage.

The US diplomatic cables reveal how the US seeks dirt on nations opposed to its approach to tackling global warming;...

Quote:

Some countries needed little persuading. The accord promised $30bn (£19bn) in aid for the poorest nations hit by global warming they had not caused. Within two weeks of Copenhagen, the Maldives foreign minister, Ahmed Shaheed, wrote to the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, expressing eagerness to back it.

$30 bln buys his vote.

Quote:

The confidential cable records a blunt US threat to Zenawi: sign the accord or discussion ends now. Zenawi responds that Ethiopia will support the accord, but has a concern of his own: that a personal assurance from Barack Obama on delivering the promised aid finance is not being honoured.

We want Mr Obama to promise to pay us.

Quote:

Perhaps the most audacious appeal for funds revealed in the cables is from Saudi Arabia, the world's second biggest oil producer and one of the 25 richest countries in the world. A secret cable sent on 12 February records a meeting between US embassy officials and lead climate change negotiator Mohammad al-Sabban. "The kingdom will need time to diversify its economy away from petroleum, [Sabban] said, noting a US commitment to help Saudi Arabia with its economic diversification efforts would 'take the pressure off climate change negotiations'."

The Saudis did not like the accord, but were worried they had missed a trick. The assistant petroleum minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told US officials that he had told his minister Ali al-Naimi that Saudi Arabia had "missed a real opportunity to submit 'something clever', like India or China, that was not legally binding but indicated some goodwill towards the process without compromising key economic interests".

All of the above kind of makes you wonder what kinds of bribes and threats are being presented in Cancun right now.

waltky · #2 (**permalink**) 12-10-2011, 10:48 PM

Granny says the climate gonna change just like it did onna dinosaurs - den we all gonna die just like dey did...

NASA: Earth's Prehistoric Record Warns of Nearing Rapid Climate Change
December 10, 2011 - A new U.S. space agency study warns the Earth this century could see rapid and catastrophic climate changes if man-made global warming levels are allowed to reach an internationally-recognized so-called “safe limit” of two degrees Celsius.

Quote:

The NASA researchers examined prehistoric climate conditions during past interglacial periods - the time between ice ages - and compared them with the interglacial period the Earth is currently experiencing. The last interglacial period ended around 115,000 years ago when temperatures were less than one degree Celsius warmer than today, and sea levels were six meters higher. The scientists say looking at how the prehistoric climate responded to natural changes gives them more insight into determining a dangerous level of man-made global warming for today’s world.

NASA study leader James Hansen says the findings show that Earth’s climate is more sensitive than even recent estimates suggest. He described the notion of limiting man-made global warming to an increase of two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels as “a prescription for disaster.” Recent studies, including those by NASA, indicate the average global surface temperature since 1880 has gone up 0.8 degrees Celsius and is on course to continue rising by 0.1 degrees every decade.

NASA researchers say global warming of two degrees Celsius would more closely match conditions of an interglacial period that occurred some five million years ago when seas were about 25 meters higher than today. For decades, a two-degree Celsius rise above pre-industrial age levels in average global surface temperatures was considered a safe margin. Many scientists now advocate a threshold of one degree or less and say more has to be done to decrease global warming caused by human activity, such as burning fossil fuels.

Developing and wealthy nations, however, remain deeply divided over how to reduce man-made emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. An interglacial geologic period, such as the one Earth is now having, occurs when the North and South Poles are frozen, but glaciers do not dominate the rest of the planet. Scientists call the current interglacial period the Holocene epoch. The previous interglacial period is known as the Eemian epoch.

Source

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

The Following User Says Thank You to alan For This Useful Post:
Moody Vulcan