THE CARBON WAR

96
The Winning of The Carbon War
commit themselves to holding current rises in global temperatures to 2°C.
Beyond that lies mayhem.
World Meteorological Organisation secretary-general Michel Jarraud
is among those leaving no room for equivocation. “Our weather is becoming
more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels,” he
says. “We must reverse this trend by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases across the board. We are running out of time.”
Citizens are returning in numbers to public expressions of dismay. Yesterday’s
demonstration in New York was but one of 2,646 events in 156 countries.
More than half a million people took to the streets in cities including New
Delhi, Melbourne, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Brussels and
Berlin. Climate change is back on the front pages of newspapers the world over.
Some of the scenes remind me of protests I saw during the Vietnam War.
On Wall Street yesterday, a hundred activists were arrested. Twitter is awash
with iconic images. One shows a protestor dressed as a polar bear, being taken
away by policemen with hands cuffed behind his back.
Another – well, what can I say? I am often tempted to write “life, stranger
than art”, on the pages of this chronicle. I can only get away with that cliché
maybe once. Let it be here. The NYPD has found a way to deflate the carbon
bubble. I mean the one twenty feet across, carried by protestors above their
heads as they poured into Wall Street. The police popped it on one of the horns
of the famous statue of a bull.
In the UN, the country commitment statements begin. Four minutes
apiece with a big red digital clock ticking down time on the podium.
Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, opens.
The EU is leading, he reminds everyone. Our target is 40% emissions by 2030
en route to 80% to 95% by 2050. In effect we are decarbonising the European
economy. He adds the renewables target, managing to keep a straight face: 27%
of the energy mix by 2030.
It is merely business as usual. British foot-dragging, and oil industry
lobbying for shale, had much to do with that.
The President of the Republic of Kiribati, Anote Tong, speaks with a
hoarse voice. I’ve been shouting so long about climate change, he croaks, that
I can barely speak now.
A wry smile from Ban Ki-moon on the top table.
The President of the Marshall Islands, Christopher Loeak, elaborates. We
have nowhere to retreat to. For a quarter of a century, we and the other small