A road to nowhere

We all heard of “bridge to nowhere” and “road to nowhere”. That’s not funny. What we see here is a real brand new road that leads to nowhere.

Gordon Brown has hailed an “historic” agreement between the world’s major industrialized nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. He also said the deal paved the way for a global agreement at the UN conference in Copenhagen this December to halve emissions by the middle of the century.

You really think so?

Apparently, the failure to agree on swift, concrete steps to reduce gas emissions during the summit pointed to hard bargaining ahead on global warming – especially on the politically sensitive issue of who should go first. Observers have said neither the broad promises of future action nor the relatively modest financial incentives on the table were likely to break the standoff between the most economically advanced nations and China, India and Brazil, who want wealthier nations to take the lead.

It’s going to be tough, especially for those developing nations, as the strict emission control would constitute potential barriers for their productivities. It’s not the time yet for them to consider such a great interest that will benefit the global society a few generations away. Surely, cutting greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized 8 alone would make a significant progress toward easing the global warming. However, that’s by far deficient from reaching the goal of preventing global temperatures rising by more than 2C.

You will understand what I mean by looking at what the Kyoto Protocol, a agreement reached among members of the United Nations more than a decade ago, has achieved – virtually nothing. 

There is no reason not to make a prediction: the way that Mr. Brown claimed to have paved is nothing but “a road to nowhere”.