Kyoto Protocol Dies In Durban: Countries Punt to 2015

The final text of the United Nations COP17 Climate Change Conference will force all major emitters
to sign on to a legally binding agreement of some form by 2015.  This punts the global warming ball down the road for four years.  International economic woes will prevent nations from ever reducing total greenhouse gas emissions.  Economic develop trumps climate disaster.  Adaptation will have to be the mantra in the fight to maintain our existence in a global warming world.

International Convention Centre & Durban Exhibition Centre

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol did not require developing nations to reduce emissions. The Durban Platform starts a new process whose goal is to complete, by 2015, a global climate pact with legal force, applying to all nations. Developed nations countries do not want to cut the use of fossil fuels because they work in powering their economies. China, India and other emerging economies do not want to cut the use of fossil fuels because they want the same sort of economic development as developed countries and they want to bring millions of people out of poverty.  This is why America, China and India will never agree to real emissions cuts.  This is also why Bill Clinton {and Al Gore}, President Bush and President Obama never pushed for Senate passage of the treaty.  [See Developing Nations]

Durban

The United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Durban, South Africa from November 28 - December 9, 2011 [extended by 2 days]. It brought together 200 representatives of the world's governments, along with international organizations. The discussions sought to advance, in a balanced fashion, the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the Bali Action Plan, agreed at COP 13 in 2007, and the Cancun Agreements, reached at COP 16 last December. [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change]