'The Disappearing Deal'

«In recent months, the prospects that states will actually agree to anything in Copenhagen are starting to look worse and worse.

All this matters because the effects of climate change are very real. They are also diverse, and will likely hit hardest in the most vulnerable and poorest regions of the world.

[A deal] would help lower air pollution, thus reducing health problems. It would increase energy security in countries dependent on foreign oil while creating new jobs in alternative-energy industries. And it would help stabilize agricultural production, all at surprisingly low cost. It's therefore almost impossible to explain why, when world leaders all claim to support action to reduce emissions, an agreement remains elusive.»

Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and director-general of the Energy and Resources Institute, Newsweek, 26-Oct-2009