The UN Climate Change Conference will open in Glasgow on Sunday, and Scott Morrison will be there, with the grunts, farts and oinks of the National Party ringing in his ears.
It was a gamble whether he could go or not, and before he could lift off with his woolly socks and Hillsong hymnbook, some weighty right-wing baggage had to fall away.
For example, the Business Council of Australia completely reversed itself, discovering that cutting carbon emissions would be good for business, while all the News Corp papers, which pretend to operate independently, announced in unison that they had always accepted the science, and the non-stop gabble of climate denial tosspots had just been ironic teasing of the humourless Greens.
Only the acquiescence of the National Party to a bare minimum policy was needed to save his face in Glasgow when he will be led to his stool at the back of the big people’s meeting.
Naturally an agreement so desperately needed by the PM enables the party of thugs and stand-over merchants to divert the maximum amount of tax dollars from our pockets into theirs.
However, the smell of pork is so delicious that the Nationals are lingering over opening the barrel; so at the time of writing, we do not know how much ransom will need to be paid.
Nevertheless, we are going to get the high-level, albeit embarrassed, representation of Morrison at COP26.
So what is the purpose of the conference?
The number one goal is to ‘secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach.’ (Keeping under 1.5 degrees of planetary warming is thus implicitly abandoned: we must keep it ‘within reach.’)
The 2050 target is a given; the real need at the conference is to get countries to adopt ambitious emission reduction targets by 2030.
For Australians, this has already been ruled out by the National Clown Party, but Morrison will still get some credit in Glasgow.
This is because the organisers of the conference have realised that to create a plan to combat climate change all they need to do is study Australia, and then do the exact opposite.
So the agenda reads: ‘accelerate the phase-out of coal; curtail deforestation; speed up the switch to electric vehicles; and encourage investment in renewables.’
This is, of course, a precise reverse image of the climate policy initiatives undertaken by the Liberal-Nationals government over the past eight years.
It’s good that we could contribute something.
Will the conference achieve its aim? Existentially it must.
However, we should remember that whatever decisions come out of the next two weeks, they will have to be implemented within the limits of the same system that caused the catastrophe in the first place.
We have seen over the last eight years how difficult it is to rein in destructive forces when they get control of a national government.
We can only hope for more success at the global level.
David Lovejoy, Echo co-founder
First, i would like to say that i like pigs and i am sadden that their character has been besmirched by the unsavory association. (joking)
The problem for our planet is that emission targets on their own do nothing. absolutely nothing to stop the deforestation and desertification of our planet which is fast becoming a mars-scape.. I invite you to check out google earth time lapse that shows how Australia has aged for the worse over the last 14 years. it is frightening.
earthengine.google.com/timelapse/ and enter gps -25.7, 42.7
It does not need to be like this but we need to learn from titans like Peter Andrews, highlighted on ABC “Hope Springs” or his good friend Paul Newell who has a excellent site called “landsmanship.com” .. I have met Paul and he is a national treasure, work like his needs to be in the public forum, waiting for scotty or any other polly is a fatal mistake.
President ScamMO going to G20 first and getting the chance to meet up with Mathias ‘The Conman’ Corrman whom Aussie taxpayers footed something like $1millions so that President ScamMO could repay private citizen ‘The Conman’ ( for landing President ScamMO in the Lodge ) and get him that top job at OECD. The Conman, railed against taking action on climate all his Aussie parliamentary life but now being topman man at OECD and on the eve of COP26, he is Championing action on climate change. All of a sudden two serial climate deniers, President ScamMO and The Conman, have done public about faces on climate. And they seriously expect us to swallow it up. You just can’t make this stuff up if you tried.
Really sad & depressing that several nations (apparently some of our own Aust states) have already reached 1.5 temp rise? Our neighbours to the north who live on many a beautiful tropical island have been begging for acknowledgment & support for decades. Their homes are sinking, right now. School children are FAR more aware & enlightened than MOST of our useless politicians. Still the Nats insist upon living in the 17th Century & will continue to do so in order to maintain their ‘shrinking’ electorates. Three of the allegedly more aware Liberal pollies, that have been speaking out for higher targets by 2030, JUST voted with their luddite mates within the party room in Canberra ? Scummo isn’t just an embarrassment now flying off to Glasgow , he has always been an embarrassment & a under achiever. Even lost his job within the tourism dept & yet he’s the best that the Libs had to offer up when Turnbull got knifed in the back. This madness & bloody mindedness just keeps escalating . No wonder so many woman DO NOT want to enter politics or even go anywhere near that edifice of hypocrisy called “parliament house” in the A.C.T. Our democracy is in the ICU (it requires immediate intubating) & I don’t think it’s gonna survive , unless this broken system is overhauled. What makes me even more outraged is that mediocrity keeps voting for this lot…Growlllllllll
Lindy 1.5 Degrees of warming already ?
That is absolute misinformation.. ?
The Planet has warmed 0.6 of a degree
That is the Facts Globally.. the Future
Predictions for planet warming like it could
Get to 3.5 degrees warmer is alarmist rubbish Propaganda at best .. these predictions are done by Computers Lindy
Be real here … okay here is a hypothetical
The science is settled right ? Well name
One Scientist that is prepared to put his predictions where is mouth is .. and i will
Put up any amounts on the complete Opposite.. ?? Incidentally Lindy why
Is China, Russia, and India not attending
The Glasgow hydrocarbon heaven party ?