The k2p blog

Two decades of waste in the name of alarmist “environmentalism” are coming to an end.

The BBC’s Richard Black reports that a text has been agreed at the jamboree in Rio to be “approved” by country leaders later this week. The text appears to be watered down and to be largely meaningless in terms of binding commitments by any country for moving towards the politically correct view of “a more sustainable future”.

But actually the lack of commitments is itself of great significance. History will show that the Rio meeting of 2012 was the symbolic end of the era of profligate “eco-fascism”.

BBC:

Negotiators have agreed a text to be approved by world leaders meeting this week in Rio in a summit intended to put society on a more sustainable path. 

Environment groups and charities working on poverty issues believe the agreement is far too weak.

The Rio+20 gathering comes 20 years after the Earth Summit, also held in the Brazilian city.

The text has yet to be signed off by heads of government and ministers, but it seems that no changes will be made.

“We have reached the best possible equilibrium at this point; I think we have a very good outcome,” said Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota.

But appearances are kept up and everybody claims to be satisfied:

…. Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota – “We consider that the spirit of Rio has been kept alive after 20 years.”

…. Danish Environment Minister Ida Auken told BBC News that she believed it would be signed off. “The EU would have liked to see a much more concrete and ambitious outcome, so in that respect I’m not happy with it,” she said. “However we managed to get the green economy on the agenda, and so I think we have a strong foundation for this vision that can drive civil society and the private sector to work in the same direction, to understand that environment and the social side must be integrated into the heart of the economy.”

….. US lead negotiator Todd Stern described the deal as “a good step forward”, adding that he did not expect heads of state and government to re-open discussions. “I believe this document is done,” he said pointing out that Brazil has “no plan or intention to let the document open up.”

… The UK’s environment minister, Caroline Spelman, praised the deal on SDGs ( sustainable development goals) as a “good outcome”. “We have backed SDGs from the outset and helped drive them from a good idea to a new agreement that will elevate sustainability to the top of the agenda.”

… 

More than 100 world leaders are expected in Rio from Wednesday to attend the summit. They include presidents and prime ministers from the large emerging economies, including China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. But US President Barack Obama will not be there, and neither will UK Prime Minister David Cameron or German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who are all sending ministers in their places.

And in the meantime global cooling has set in, shale gas will help to meet our growing energy needs and the planet is doing just fine.

Tags: Earth Summit, Rio, Rio+20, UN CoSummit on sustainable development

This entry was posted on June 20, 2012 at 7:36 am and is filed under Alarmism, Environment, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.