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If the science and consensus were solid, then we wouldn’t be having the endless string of failed climate conferences we’ve seen year after year over the last 2 decades. Obviously policymakers have stopped viewing the science as being credible enough on which to base policy.

Clearly policymakers no longer view climate change as threatening. The real threats are indeed economic and financial.

Today Spiegel here writes that there is “little hope of a global worldwide climate treaty” being reached in Doha, Qatar, three weeks from now and that “the chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Ottmar Edenhofer, sees negotiations at a dead-end“.

Over the years there have been plenty of non-binding declarations and empty commitments, and Ottmar Edenhofer doesn’t see anything different happening in Doha: “It looks as if not much is going to come out of Doha. The outlook for a climate treaty at the moment is unfortuately not especially good”.

Spiegel adds:

Economics and climate scientists are especially placing their hopes on ‘linking the emissions trading systems’ in the short term between Europe and Australia, and over long term probably also with China.”

That’s it? Only Europe and Australia are willing to “tackle climate change”? Already Doha is dead even before arrival.

According to Spiegel, Edenhofer also adds that “a reform of the German Feed-in Act is necessary”. “The Energy Feed-In Act cost transfer to consumers is not sustainable over the long-term,” said Edenhofer, and that the current system offers “too little competition to lower the prices and to find the best locations.”

In summary, Edenhofer admits that the German Feed-in Act has been a failure. Finally a step in the right direction.

Photo credit: PIK, GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version