Copenhagen Accord Aftermath: "Uncontested Superpower" To Blame

After the failure, the politicians' empty boasts of a "historic agreement", the real story of what happened behind the scenes at Copenhagen is coming out piece by piece.

Mark Lynas at The Guardian, who was privy to the negotiations, writes that he is no doubt as to why the climate talks failed. The big obstructionist was the country that is fast-becoming the world's "uncontested superpower".

In his article he writes:

"China's strategy was simple: block the open negotiations for two weeks, and then ensure that the closed-door deal made it look as if the west had failed the world's poor once again. And sure enough, the aid agencies, civil society movements and environmental groups all took the bait."

He also says it was China that lobbied for removing the target of global 50% cuts by 2050 for developed countries and removing the 1.5C target for warming. Why? In a word: coal.

Much of it coming from right here in Canada.

Writes Lynas: "Its coal-based economy doubles every decade, and its power increases commensurately. Its leadership will not alter this magic formula unless they absolutely have to."