The Meek and the Mighty

The meek may inherit the earth, but they will have trouble getting monetary help from the mighty to keep it clean.  Wealthier nations make noise about assisting the poorer ones with funding for technology to fight climate change, but they are shifty about how this will actually happen. So, while we get better at reducing greenhouse gases, they tend to get worse as they become more industrialized, often producing our consumer goods.

Here is an excerpt from a New York Times report on the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Qatar -- you know, the one nearly everyone in the media is ignoring.

At Climate Talks, a Struggle Over Aid for Poorer Nation John Broder

 DOHA, Qatar — The United Nations climate conference here has settled into its typical doldrums, with most major questions unresolved as a Friday evening deadline for concluding the talks approaches. One of the thorniest issues is money, which has often bedeviled these affairs. 

Since the process for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change began about 20 years ago, countries have been split into two often-warring camps: the small number of wealthy nations that provide money to help deal with the effects of global warming, and the much larger group of poorer states that receive it.

 

There is a reason churches and religious organizations have sent delegates to these events. There are issued of justice and equality which they, along with other NGO's, are willing to air (pun intended) while diplomats fiddle. It's unfortunate that we have so little clout and so little money to even get people there anymore.

 

Thoughts?