Since 1997, when the Kyoto protocol was signed, greenhouse gas emissions in every developed country that agreed to cut them have increased. Japan, Canada, the EU are all likely to breach their targets. Within the EU, the UK and possibly Germany might make their individual targets, but only because of one-off events that happened before Kyoto was signed. The treaty is a bust, so efforts to extend it beyond 2012 are already running up against the brick wall of reality.
So what are the UN bureaucrats doing? Facing up to the fact that no-one has a clue how to reconcile continued economic growth with reductions in energy use? Naaaah. They’re blaming Bush. They’re talking about extending the deadlines to allow the next US President to climb on board the sinking ship.
Yeah, that’ll work.
By the way, even if successfully implemented by all parties, including the US and Australia, the Kyoto Protocol will reduce projected warming by just 0.07 degrees C by 2050.
Just who is in denial here?