SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the now-we-gotta-invent-stuff-to-make-it-happen dept.
195 Nations Approve Historic Climate Accord
195 Nations Approve Historic Climate Accord
Following late-night negotiations and years of anticipation, delegates from 195 countries have agreed to curb the worst effects of climate change by limiting warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius. The agreement, the result of an international climate summit outside Paris and approved December 12, aims to be the world's roadmap to kicking the fossil fuel habit, with a possibility of an even more ambitious 1.5-degree goal in the future.
Even with the agreement in hand, political obstacles and technological challenges remain to reining in global warming. Individual countries will have to swap greenhouse gas‒emitting energy sources like coal, oil and natural gas for low-emission sources such as wind, solar and nuclear power. Along with yet-to-be-realized technologies that pull greenhouse gases from the air, these changes are meant to reduce net carbon emissions to zero in the second half of the century. By 2020, countries will release their long-term plans to cut emissions. Every five years, countries will reassess their progress and tweak their carbon-cutting goals.
COP21 has been signed
After a last-minute weakening of the text, COP21 has been accepted in Paris by almost 200 countries (that's our world, basically) and the French minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, hammered it off before proceeding with the group hug of world leaders.
The draft text [PDF] is currently available, but a crucial change in article 4 point 4 on page 21 is no longer there after the last-minute "oh sorry we were tired and made a typo".
Read about it on The Guardian.
Let me say in conclusion: Thank you Paris! Politics is the art of what is achievable.
Polar bears - Terrorists : 1 - 0 [Caution: to view this link you MUST accept the site cookie popup] (violent cartoon, possibly NSFW)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Mr Big in the Pants on Sunday December 13 2015, @08:03AM
"Let me say in conclusion: Thank you Paris! Politics is the art of what is achievable."
The breathless reporting on this is unbelievable just like it was during kyoto.
This is an "aspirational" non-binding and very voluntary agreement. They may describe it any way they want but in legal terms all the "could"s were changed to "should"s. The only thing mandated is a 5 yearly report.
The usual suspects were behind the wording changes including the sneaky last minutes ones including the biggest polluters - China has all but wiped their ass with this agreement and they were the main ones we needed to change.
Apparently we should all be cheering because of an "agreement" (that's probably not even worthy of the name) to maybe possibly do something in the future if we can but no penalties for not doing anything like last time (kyoto). It is utter horse shit.
The greedy self-interested leaders of countries got together, spited puffery in an attempt at pretence and failed again to save humanity. No one should be surprised.
Our mighty leaders....I did not expect anything more from them, but I did from the media (which makes me an idiot I know). Shame on them.
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 13 2015, @09:10AM
James Hansen, Father of Climate Change Awareness, Calls Paris Talks "A Fraud" [alternet.org]
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Sunday December 13 2015, @09:34PM
If you think posting an article on a small alternative news website disproves my point then you are wrong.
Almost all the mainstream media are running with the breathless thing like this site has done. (I expected more from here actually)
Having said that. Good on this news website for running against the grain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 14 2015, @12:53AM
Perhaps you haven't noticed that I have repeatedly said here that Lamestream Media is an unreliable source of information and that their stuff, if consumed, should be treated with extreme skepticism unless validated by news outlets who haven't taken payoffs from megacorporations meant to influence the final product.
OTOH, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting and Media Matters for America find AlterNet to be a reliable source of information.
Good on this news website for running against the grain.
I agree with you on that as I did with your initial point.
Your hostility is unwarranted.
AlterNet is typical of the sites I rely on for useful information.
Some here have said that sites I reference are partisan.
That seems to mean that those sites don't make a concerted effort to avoid reporting stories that reveal embarrassing|disgusting facts about incumbents|the status quo, in contrast to Lamestream Media.
Calling that partisan is quite silly.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Monday December 14 2015, @05:13AM
I see your signature confused me.
gewg: Opinionated individual who gives examples to support his positions.
I thought that was you disagreeing by way of providing that link.
Context is everything as always.
I retract my hostility and apologise.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 14 2015, @11:28PM
Opinionated individual...
Yup, that was my post.
Some folks have spotted a gewg_ on Twitter.
That's another guy.
I started using the text moniker years before Twitter existed.
(Got the verbal version from my buddy in grade school.)
Apology accepted.
I foresee the 2 of us on the same side criticizing Lamestream Media, politicians, etc. in future threads.
-- gewg_
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 13 2015, @04:12PM
It's like someone who weighs 250 pounds, signing up for a gym membership, agreeing to cut back on snacks and beer, and agreeing to be weighed every few months. And the results will be posted.
It's a start, and about the best you were going to do given the subject. Now, we have to monitor the plan, and eventually go in and raise the bar a little, and then a lot.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Mr Big in the Pants on Sunday December 13 2015, @09:28PM
"and about the best you were going to do given the subject"
I am sorry but it's not fucking good enough then. It is weak. It is a sham. It result in no change in behaviour from what was going to happen anyway.
Something is NOT always better than nothing; this is flawed logic you are using.
Rather the talks be labelled a complete and utter failure so the world can see what is really going on than this pretence of doing anything.
What the politicians have done, which is EXACTLY what they wanted to do, was give the pretence of success and kick the ball to 2020 when almost none of them will still be in power. They get credit for nothing and then don't have to deal with the fallout.
China is a dictatorship so they don't give a fuck. The US will probably have a republican in by then or a republican senate so nothing will happen as per usual.
SAME SAME