Rapturous applause filled the room, though that was hardly unexpected. What was remarkable about this meeting, though, was the surprising presence of an external delegation: joining the CCP apparatchiks on a collection of screens dotted around the room were a number of enthusiastic Britons and other Westerners.
Who were these people? By Clive Hamilton. Also present were representatives from ClientEarth, a law firm that tries to block development in Britain and other countries on environmental grounds in the courts; the Worldwide Fund for Nature, whose president is Prince Charles; and representatives from rich and influential organisations based in America including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the World Resources Institute and the Energy Foundation.
On the last day, British minister Alok Sharma was reduced to tears when India and China refused to promise to phase out coal.
Back in the real world , President Xi Jinping has said China will increase annual coal production by million tonnes. Such moves have, unsurprisingly, attracted robust criticism. Nowhere is this more effective than in the climate movement. I asked a specialist researcher fluent in Mandarin to examine open-source material from the Chinese web. The results suggest Western greens have become prime targets. By Austin Williams.
Toadying to the Party leadership is letting them off the hook. For Lord Stern, this is nothing new: his environmental record is littered with papers saying CCP leaders are making great progress, and suggesting β prematurely β that their coal use and emissions have already or will soon peak.
