Soon we will have an answer as to where to go next from Kyoto. Kyoto is old, it was merely a starting point on this issue, which did need to be addressed. It was inevitable that there would be countries who would not sign the accord, it was unfair to other countries, and in order to get that many countries to even sign the document, it had to be altered. Regardless of who does what, when and how, there is a bteer understanding of this issue than there was ten years ago. Monday talks start in Nairobi on where to go next for the Kyoto ratifying nations. There are many problems which need to be addressed.
The whole doomsday thing is rather silly, as is the speculation that it would have ruined our economy. Over the time period since it has been signed, we could have been making slow incremental changes. Carbon sequestration, improved emission standards for passenger vehicles, more investment in renewable energy, etc. Do you know that big business in the States has addressed these problems? The Insurance industry has seen a dramatic increase in the costs incurred. They now implement global warming in their economic models. As a result of this, premiums near shorelines have jumped, when assessing claims the policy holder is directed to green technologies by the insurance company.
Kyoto will be dead soon, hopefully replaced by something more comprehensive, more realistic, and most importantly something which can be acted upon immediately. We have lost time on this issue, dithered and dallied. With public opinion now warming up to the idea, perhaps we may see a paradigm shift in the right direction to be more efficient, less damaging to the fragile eco-systems we depend on and ultimatley better tenants of this wonderful blue marble.
