Kevin Rudd’s diplomatic double speak may have cut the mustard in the surreal world of make-believe diplomacy, where innuendo and workcraft lacking real content is the sign of a a person least likely to effect any change while leading the conversation away from the problem; however, on the global stage, emperor kRudd all has been revealed as a classic all talk and no trousers.
The UNFCCC has exposed Empreror Rudd’s empty rhetoric; anyone who has been convinced, sitting on the fence or – like me in the first few months of his reign – givng him the benefit of the doubt must now realize that Prime Minister Rudd and Minister Penny Wong’s rhetoric has been revelaed – via a leak from the UN Secretariat (over in Copenhagen) – for the fraud it is.
The leak – attached – concludes that, even with the highest pledges on the table from developed and developing countries, the world would be on a trajectory “that could lead to concentrations equal or above 550 ppm with the related temperature rise around 3C”. That trajectory gives the planet essentially no real chance of avoiding the tipping points which would trigger runaway heating and climate catastrophe.
Perhaps now more people in the developed world will understand why the developing world is unprepared to be bullied by countries like Australia into signing their lives away – literally.
Why should poorer nations, who are historically far less responsible for climate change, be required to act before those who caused the problem? China must of course be brought to the table, but they are quite justified in arguing that they have already moved further than they need to without developed nations taking on their fair burden.
Why should the Chinese leaders not be pessimistic developed world leaders have point blank refused to lift their targets to the ambition that the science requires? It is fascinating that Chinese leaders are criticised for their honesty when they tell the Copenhagen conference that they do not expect an agreement to be reached this week, but Kevin Rudd’s dishonesty in his speech to the plenary goes unremarked.
Mr Rudd’s speech was – in Shakespeare’s words – ‘full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing’; what we ‘all spin and no substance’. Apart from the empty language on targets, the key impact of Mr Rudd’s speech will be his reference to Tuvalu and Kiribati in making the case for action.
The delegates from these countries will not be impressed that Mr Rudd used them as an example of climate crisis in the conference room when he and his staff have been bullying them outside the room.
As word of the bombshell leaked Secretariat document has spread around civil society groups now barred from the negotiating hall, reaction has been fierce: ‘This is the real Climate-gate, the UN has known all along that they were perpetrating a charade’ said Bill McKibben at 350.org (his name is scrawled across the top of the document), ‘it’s the smoking gun and the smoke is coming from a scorched planet’.
‘ The real deal holds temperature increases to two degrees’ said Ben Margolis (director of the TckTckTck campaign) ‘a three degrees temperature rise would result in truly dire impacts’.
Far from funny is a notation at the end of the document which says ‘the estimated temperature rise of 3 degrees will reduce significantly the probability to stay within a temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius’.
Contact your federal member and let them know how you feel.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Joe Rossi // Jan 13, 2010 at 1:25 pm
It’s interesting that the spin is finally running out and now that there is failure to deliver results KRudd has been shown as the fraud that he is.
2 Daniel Boon // Jan 13, 2010 at 4:16 pm
What is equally disturbing is the likes of Tony Abbot, Barnaby Joyce, Wilson Tuckey and Nick Minchin; is it by accident or design that these persons in the opposition are so unaware, uneducated and alienating of the populace that Labor could stay in Power ?
Personally, I don’t think Kevin Rudd has the guts to pull the double dissolution chain, but methinks it could flush the troglodytes of the coalition down the pan of politics … one can but live in hope.
3 simplistic // Feb 1, 2010 at 11:52 pm
Australia is a small country with a small population we do not manufacture much of what we consume and our exports rely on us digging our up our natural resources to sell to other countries without that we would be very poor.
I think we need to understand how really insignificant we are on a global scale and selecting a leader who has a grip on reality would be a good start. Kevin Rudd is not that person.
Perhaps simple Tony with his simplistic ideology my be the leader this simple country simply must have.
But we are good at sport !!
4 Daniel Boon // Feb 2, 2010 at 10:40 am
Hello ‘Simplistic’,
You’re right, in the grand scheme of things we are small but the reality is our population is too great for even our over exploited land. Whatever industry we had, the likes of Tony Abbott and Co have encouraged to go overseas by exploiting the lower paid workers; once we were almost totally self reliant on our own oil, that was drilled and sent overseas and now we are almost totally reliant on oil from overseas.
What happens when most of our natural gas is sold overseas and more rare resources like uranium? Even coal is a finite supply, with the easiest / cheapest and better quality already dug up and sold off overseas.
Unfortunately, Tony Abbott and his ilk are not the solution, they are the problem, by helping themselves and their financial backers to our limited resources, by stripping us of an ability to feed, cloth and look after ourselves.
Good management is simple, most people put a cap on the number of children they have because they know they can only budget for so many (food, schooling, housing etc) whereas successive federal (and state) government politicians in Australia have looked to lining their pockets by promoting population growth because more consumers equates to more profits …
Tony Abbott is simple, like the vast majority of politicians they are reactionary rather than being proactive …
5 Joe Rossi or RPData // Feb 9, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Hi Daniel,
I must disagree that most politicians are reactionary. Unfortunately they all have to pay back those that help them get into power, this means that even those with good intentions become tainted.
However, if you look at someone like John Howard at least he managed to think about the future and lay the foundation so that we could weather the financial storm. It is really disappointing that KRudd spun himself out of control and destroyed those foundations.
Ask yourself what has he really achieved since he came to power?
6 Daniel Boon // Feb 10, 2010 at 5:36 pm
John Howard … what a chameleon; he may soon be classified a war criminal for joining the USA and the UK against Iraq based knowingly on false information (strange really as he revered Menzies who came head to head with Churchill who squandered ANZAC lives in ill conceived tactical strategies and actually stole two ships from the Turks – bought and paid for – causing the Turks to side with the Nazi’s); even as you read this, there is some 5,000 Pounds for the first person to make a citizens arrest of Tony Blair.
Howard’s claim to fame is not that he rode the sheep’s back, but the resources industry (including trying to steal the East Timorese oil) and oversaw the banking industry’s deregulation and subsequent global economic crisis; then there is the Australian Greenhouse Office pledge of $1 billion, most of which was then funnelled into the Iraq and Afghanistan war effort; then there’s the billions of $ in subsidies to the oil industry and the wasteful ethanol industry and several hundred thousand $’s for alternative energy … we were the world leaders in solar energy in the 70’s !!! and then there’s the Abbot & Costello buffoons.
Costello knowing we are over-populated and under- resourced in potable water and arable land (and now importing over 25% of our fruit and veg) and the dried out Murray Darling; and the ‘one baby for mum, one baby for dad and one for Australia’ … not because we need more people, but because they want more consumers and the young people to be able to make up for pensions stolen, misappropriated and squandered, propping up Howard’s corporate cronies …
When the dust settles … Howard will be weighed, measured and – still – found short.
7 Joe Rossi of RPData // Feb 17, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Hi Daniel,
I guess your right, that is why KRudd had a huge surplus. Thank god we didn’t have the GFC when Paul Keating was in, our bannana republic was already in poor shape.
If fact even if you look back to 1925 you will find critical reports of how labor had spent far too much money while they were in power.
How strange that history repeats itself!
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