[Misc] COP26: Just More Of The Same Hot Air?

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Surprised to see no threads on COP26, or at least none with a thread title worthy of the name.

So... is it really one minute to midnight or will they just put the clocks back?

 

[KZNSeagull]

Hope so. We will see. Certainly some very emotive speeches just occurred, Sir David being the highlight.

 

[rippleman]

I think that the fact that the Chancellor has made it cheaper to fly and to drive gives an indication of how seriously our government are taking climate change.

I think that the absence of the leaders of countries who are the worst polluters (China, Russia, India & Brazil) cant even be arsed to turn up shows how seriously they are taking it.

Then the leaders of all the small nations FLYING into Glasgow (has Zoom passed them by) shows how seriously the leaders of all the little countries are taking it.

A complete and utter waste of time. As HM indicated the other week - all talk and no do.

 

[crodonilson]

HRH Prince Charles may have stumbled on the stairs to deliver his verdict but then packed a real punch with his speech.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Everyone on here is too busy booking their holiday flights to have time to worry about that crap.

Me, I'm rowing to Sweden to chillax with #Swanny.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I think that the fact that the Chancellor has made it cheaper to fly and to drive gives an indication of how seriously our government are taking climate change.

I think that the absence of the leaders of countries who are the worst polluters (China, Russia, India & Brazil) cant even be arsed to turn up shows how seriously they are taking it.

Then the leaders of all the small nations FLYING into Glasgow (has Zoom passed them by) shows how seriously the leaders of all the little countries are taking it.

A complete and utter waste of time. As HM indicated the other week - all talk and no do.

Yup, this. The absence of China and Russia says all you need to know. They clearly don't give a shit. Presumably they live on a different planet from the rest of us

 

[bhafc99]

Me, I'm rowing to Sweden to chillax with #Swanny.

That’s a heck of a distance to go just to deliver a pizza.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

the leaders of all the small nations FLYING into Glasgow (has Zoom passed them by) shows how seriously the leaders of all the little countries are taking it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-59114688

 

[Hamilton]

We have to accept that it's way past midnight and human beings won't change.

My advice to younger people - don't have any kids.

I hope that we see people out on the streets protesting, but as others have said, most are more interested in their cheap flights to Ibiza.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Yup, this. The absence of China and Russia says all you need to know. They clearly don't give a shit. Presumably they live on a different planet from the rest of us

Yep. Pointless virtue signaling. No Brazil either, isn't it?

If they were serious they'd tell the absentees to engage or there will be a trade boycott. That said, there would be zero impact since these people have their own resources, and can probably live without access to our fine British exports.

 

[Swansman]

There will be a lot of talking and not a lot of doing. They've been doing this for like fifteen years now - gather, talk about how we're doomed, and then nothing. Rinse and repeat.

I think its preferable to just change attitude to the whole thing. "Alright, it appears like this little plucky phase of humans ruling this planet is coming to the end. Too bad but it is what is and we should take the positives. Tbf its probably not a day to soon. Anyway, we probably have a couple of decades left, maybe a century. What should we do to get the most joy and pleasure out of the time we have left? Should we have balloons at this final party?"

Acceptance rather than being some fish desperately splashing despite the inevitable outcome.

 

[junior]

Just watched Biden arrive in the flesh. 20 vehicle motorcade and TWO aeroplanes. Air Force One and SAM24 flying behind. To then go and speak on climate change.

 

[herecomesaregular]

We need more women in higher education, delaying and reducing childbirth in poorer countries and reducing population growth in, for example, Nigeria.

Or we need China to develop an even more lethal Covid variant and a Chinaman in the lab to accidentally drop it and then sneak out looking a bit embarrassed at mid-morning tea break.

Those are the options really.

 

[Pavilionaire]

On a national level, the proof of the pudding won't be at COP26 but whether this government grants a licence for Shell to drill in the Cambo virgin oil field 75 miles west of The Shetlands.

Internationally, no, I don't think COP26 will achieve a sea change in greenhouse gas emissions. The leaders of Russian, Brazil and China aren't there and there are too many governments desperate for money and energy in the wake of Covid. There will be nice speeches, agreements signed and photos taken of leaders standing shoulder to shoulder but there's too much geo-political bad feeling to get any momentum going right now.

Even a country like Australia that has been ravaged by bushfires, floods and drought is only willing to commit to c. half the reduction in emissions as neighbouring New Zealand.

Moreover, I just don't think the machine of government / civil service gets it. Example - my Year 11 son was supposed to have his Covid jab today at school. Now - with zero notice - they've been told "Sorry Year 11, we're short-staffed and lacking vaccine so we can't bring a medical team to your school and do hundreds of kids in one day in one location, you'll all have to get to centres at Chichester, Bognor or Dorking to get the jab".

So that's hundreds of car journeys all over the county for something that could have been done on one day in one place.

Decisions like this need to be taken mindful of the environmental impact. It's just wrong and I'm so angry.

 

[portslade seagull]

Pissing in the wind until the big culprits start taking it seriously, sadly cannot see that in my lifetime

 

[m@goo]

What's really sickened me is the photo of them all throwing a coin into the Trevi fountain for luck.

These c*nts can literally bring about effective change with their actions.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Humans are too selfish and too stupid, goodnight Vienna

 

[beorhthelm]

we dont need speeches, they've decided "something must be done" already. what we need is leaders decide on strategic approach and how to sell those to the public. if we follow the hard green lobby we'll have no holiday flights, no personal cars, heat poverty. if we take sensible engineering solutions we can probably deliver near net zero without too much sacrifice, but will need to build nuclear and a lot of infrastucture. no more "can build x" protests, they will get built along with supporting storage. hard choices for the politicans, people will be unhappy at the solution eitherway. and it'll cost, we cant keep on this pretense of changing everything for next to nothing. you will have more expensive power, more expensive transport, etc.

 

[Swansman]

We need more women in higher education, delaying and reducing childbirth in poorer countries and reducing population growth in, for example, Nigeria.

Or we need China to develop an even more lethal Covid variant and a Chinaman in the lab to accidentally drop it and then sneak out looking a bit embarrassed at mid-morning tea break.

Those are the options really.

A combination is probably what they'll go for.

A bit of making it economically and socially impossible to have a family, along with "accidentally" killing off a big part of the world through some "unavoidable" wars or "definitely not man made" viruses.

 

[Pondicherry]

I guess Prince Charles can lecture people about the environment whilst having a massive personal carbon footprint because he is speaking to a group of world leaders with absolutely huge personal carbon footprints. Maybe the media could step in and question this, only they are just as bad. 100's of film and still camera staff when a fraction of that could have provided coverage.