Durban: de klimaatslinger zwaait terug

As the economic crisis bites, the world's politicians are less concerned about the summit aiming to halt climate change. The world's ministers and their mandarins gather in their thousands this weekend to hammer out a plan for the small matter of saving the planet. Yet few of us appear to have noticed. Despite apocalyptic warnings about temperatures reaching record levels and carbon emissions rising faster than ever, the delegates at the vast UN climate conference in South Africa this weekend could not be further from reaching a deal – or further from the thoughts of a global population gripped by economic fears.

More than 10,000 ministers, officials, campaigners and scientists from 194 countries are meeting in Durban in an attempt to counter the devastating effects of global warming. With little hope of a major agreement, many are happy to be out of the spotlight.

Not long ago, politicians were proclaiming that climate change was the greatest threat facing the world. David Cameron drove a pack of huskies across a glacier, proclaiming that the Conservatives had to lead a "new green revolution and recapture climate change from the pessimists". Today, amid the preoccupations of a global recession, the future of the world itself seems a secondary concern for the political classes. ....

But as he prepares to travel to South Africa today the green credentials of Mr Huhne's own government are being questioned at home. The IoS revealed last month that the Prime Minister's decision to cut funding for household solar energy had sparked a revolt of business leaders, councils, environment campaigners and unions. His aide Steve Hilton, who suggested the husky trip, has told officials he is "not sure" he believes the climate-change theory. Mr Hilton has become a big fan of the former chancellor Nigel Lawson, one of the most persuasive and vocal critics of the global warming lobby. The two have discussed the issue.

"Löst die Klima-Krise!": Umwelt-Aktivisten demonstrieren bei der Uno-Konferenz in Durban Das Kyoto-Protokoll läuft 2012 ab, ein neues Klimaschutzabkommen muss her. Doch eine Woche nach Beginn des Uno-Gipfels in Durban herrscht Pessimismus: Europa könne die Erderwärmung nicht allein aufhalten, sagt Angela Merkel - und ein weltweiter Konsens ist derzeit unwahrscheinlich....

"Wir wissen, dass die Schwellenländer zurzeit nicht bereit sind, bindende Reduktionsverpflichtungen im Bereich der CO2-Emission einzugehen", sagte Merkel in ihrer wöchentlichen Videobotschaft im Internet. Europa werde weiter bindende Verpflichtungen haben, könne aber das Klimaproblem der Welt nicht alleine lösen. Deshalb gehe es jetzt in Durban vor allem darum, "den Ländern, die am stärksten betroffen sind, die mehr für Klimaschutz machen müssen, eine schnelle Finanzierung bestimmter Projekte zu ermöglichen".