Saudi Arabia may be climate deal breaker

[skyhawk]

Paris - The Gulf Co-operation Council's pavilion at the UN climate talks is one of the most striking: Blazing white walls of classic Arabic design, bright lights, luxurious leather furniture.

Across the hall are the humble pressed-wood walls of the African Countries Group and another organization, the G77, which represents more than 130 poorer countries fighting for money to help them adapt to global warming blamed on the burning of fossil fuels.

For nearly two weeks, 195 countries have been grappling over a new agreement to keep Earth cool. The two main culprits putting heat-trapping emissions into the atmosphere are fossil fuels and deforestation.

But even as large investors declared they would withdraw trillions of dollars from the coal and oil industry and as activist groups called for total decarbonization, Saudi Arabia has stood steadfast in protecting the main source of its income - oil.

Any efforts to reduce carbon emissions should "not discriminate" against any one energy source, said Saudi Arabia's Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali al-Naimi this week.

Instead, all energy sources should complement one another, he said.

Saudi Arabia has over the years consistently tried to prevent ambition by UN climate efforts. For a long time, however, most public criticism was directed at the United States for its refusal to cooperate in any deal that exempted its economic rival China and other emerging economies.

This year is different. The US and China have stepped up to lead efforts to find a 2020 deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

That has put increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia, which many critics say has been blocking an ambitious climate deal. It has that leverage because of the need for consensus on any deal - giving its one vote enormous power.

"Saudi Arabia is blocking because other Arab countries are not exercising peer pressure on them," charged Safa' al Jayoussi, of the group Indy ACT, one of the civic observers at the talks.

Saudi a ranked bottom....

http://www.news24.com/Green/News/saudi-arabia-may-be-climate-deal-breaker-20151209

 

[hoenner69]

The answer to all our problems comes in the form of cannabis, or more specifically, Hemp. I read a very interesting article yesterday about the use of hemp for biomass plants to generate electricity. Hemp is four times richer in biomass/cellulose potential than its nearest rivals: cornstalks, sugarcane, kenaf, trees, etc. Grows extremely fast and uses the carbon in the air to produce oxygen. That is perhaps why it's still illegal, because hemp has the potential to remove all dependency on fossil fuels...

If you're up for a bit of a read(and no, it's not spam or propaganda lol):
http://truedemocracyparty.net/2014/...mainstream-media-censorship-level-highactive/

 

[Ninja'd]

Saudi a ranked bottom....

 

[skyhawk]

The Middle east has been caught dozing.
India govt stops buying diesel cars. The country's top court is due to hear a petition asking for the banning of privately-owned diesel vehicles next week.