Hotting up in The Hague

摘要

Ready or not, here comes the scariest show on earth. Over 5,000 scientists, bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians, journalists and green activists have descended on The Hague for a summit to discuss implementing the United Nations Kyoto treaty on climate change that was drawn up in 1997. It would be easy to be dismissive about this jamboree, especially as the hype surrounding it has been so extreme. Even so, this summit matters, because of something even scarier than the circus in The Hague: the prospect of climate change itself. For years, there have been legitimate doubts about the seriousness of global warming, and especially about man's role in it. While the science was uncertain, it was right to be sceptical over starry-eyed and costly cures. One benefit of this caution was that a more informed decision would be possible as the science got better. Another was that new technology might make it easier to curb warming. And a third was that, as the world got richer, it could more easily afford to devote resources to the problem.