Tony Gets Real on Climate Change

The Vicar of Downing Street writes in the Observer that climate change is a major threat. Gosh. It must be true, then.

This week, it appears, "is a potentially crucial week in the fight against climate change". Tony has called a meeting about it, and has written his Observer piece in order to explain to the proles what is so important about the matter and what he thinks the difficulties are with the current climate change debate.

First of all, "we know climate change is a major threat". I am not sure who "we" are meant to be in this instance. Tony's meeting will be between the G8 and China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, and the biggest member of the G8 has hardly even got around to admitting that climate change is happening, let alone doing anything about it.

But Tony is quick to absolve the major partner in the Holy Alliance of any wrongdoing in the crusade for sustainability. Not only is Kyoto "not enough" (thanks largely to US insistence on watering it down), but "We" (Tony and George W Bush?) "have to understand as well that, even if the US did sign up to Kyoto, it wouldn't affect the huge growth in energy consumption we will see in India and China." So you see. Even if George W Bush were interested in keeping treaties, there will always be others who aren't. The refusal of the world's biggest polluter to clean up its act is as nothing compared to the pollutive potentiality of countries which, even as we speak, are striving to get dirtier.

This is what Tony means by "a reluctance to face up to reality and the practical action needed to tackle problems". Economic growth among the heathen hordes "will be powered to a large degree by coal, which is both relatively cheap and readily available", after the grossly materialistic, commercially calculated fashion of those who have yet to see the light. "This," Tony observes, "could be a relentless driver of global warming." However, "by developing and sharing new technologies for coal we" (Tony and UK plc?) "can minimise its impact."

What new technologies? Well, "we" (Tony and God?) "need to create the right market conditions to increase the necessary investment to develop and install new low carbon energy generation - and to ensure it is shared with emerging economies." So the new technologies have yet to be developed, but if and when these nebulous new technologies are developed we will share them with China, having first created the right market conditions. That is certainly far-sighted of us. Enhanced sustainability, here we jolly well come.