Cancun, or Can't-Cun?

Observers are predicting the failure of climate change talks in Cancun this week, paving the way for the entire world to become one big tropical beach resort.

As world leaders gather in Cancun this week for climate change talks, the Financial Post’s Terrence Corcoran writes that, no matter what happens at the summit, fossil fuels will remain the dominant source of energy for decades. “[T]here isn’t a realistic outlook for future energy use that shows any signs that carbon-based energy sources are about to decline,” he says, and we’ll continue to gobble them up because emerging economies need large amounts of cheap fuel, and there are currently no viable alternatives. Why our continued reliance on fossil fuel isn’t anything to be concerned about however, Corcoran doesn’t say.

The National Post’s Rex Murphy says that it’s a “brain-splitting contradiction” to hold a conference aimed at fending off global warming in a place that people flock to precisely because it’s warm. It’s Murphy’s belief that global warming is nothing to worry about, because at worst it will mean that the world’s arctic regions will soon be dotted with beach resorts. That scientists credit climate change for eroding Cancun’s beaches at alarming rates is apparently something Murphy is unaware of, and frankly makes him look a little silly.

In the Ottawa Citizen, Gordon McBean writes that while consensus on climate change is hard to reach, there’s one thing “world leaders gathered in Mexico can agree on: knowing more helps.” As such, McBean is distressed that the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, which has been the country’s main funding body for climate research for 10 years, is about to collapse due to lack of government funding.

The Globe and Mail’s Norman Spector says it’s a good thing that the Kyoto accord will finally collapse in Cancun "if it spurs delegates … to redouble their efforts to forge a treaty that includes 192, not 36, parties to replace it.” He says climate change needs to be addressed, but since Kyoto only included a handful of countries and left out China and the U.S., it’s useless. On top of that, Canada signed on to the accord but then did nothing to meet its targets, and if it survives taxpayers could be facing billions of dollars in fines.