Will Warsaw climate talks point way to new deal?
http://news.yahoo.com/warsaw-climate-talks-point-way-deal-082208649.html
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Climate envoys from rich countries, emerging economies and low-lying nations at risk of being swamped by rising seas will meet in Poland for the next two weeks to lay the groundwork for a new global warming pact.
Though no major decisions are expected at the conference starting Monday in Warsaw's National Stadium, the level of progress could be an indicator of the world's chances of reaching a deal in 2015. That's the new watershed year in the U.N.-led process after a 2009 summit in Copenhagen ended in discord.
Climate change is "very, very scary stuff. And evidence is accumulating weekly, monthly as to how dangerous this will be. So there is a huge urgency that we get on with this," said Andrew Steer, the head of the World Resources Institute in Washington.
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While many countries say the U.S. should do more, increasing focus is falling on the world's top carbon polluter, China, which is under pressure to fuel its economic development in a cleaner way than the U.S. and other industrialized nations did.
Beijing points to the West's historical responsibility for having pumped carbon into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution took off in Britain in the 18th century. But that argument is losing weight as Chinese emissions surge.
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Zim: My prediction - the 'summit' will degenerate into
demands by third world kleptocrats for massive amounts
of money to be given them in the name of global
warming . . . and nothing constructive will ever
get done.
Zim.
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