Climate talks open on ever-rising emissions

The cooling towers of a coal-powered power plant are seen in the suburbs of Beijing, November 22, 2011. China, the world's top greenhouse gas emitter, said it will push at the UN climate talks in Durban for an extension of the Kyoto Protocol, which requires rich nations to reduce their emissions. / GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/Getty Images

DURBAN, South Africa - Global warming already is causing suffering and conflict in Africa, from drought in Sudan and Somalia to flooding in South Africa, President Jacob Zuma said Monday, urging delegates at an international climate conference to look beyond national interests for solutions.

"For most people in the developing countries and Africa, climate change is a matter of life and death," said the South African leader as he formally opened a two-week conference with participants from 191 countries and the European Union.

The conference is seeking ways to curb ever-rising emissions of climate-changing pollution, which scientists said last week have reached record levels of concentration in the atmosphere.

Seasoned nongovernment observers said the outcome of the conference, which ends Dec. 9, is among the most unpredictable since the annual all-nation meetings began following the conclusion in 1992 of the basic treaty on climate change.

"Everything seems to be fluid. Everything is in play," said Tasneem Essop, of WWF International.

United Nations Climate Change Conference 2011

The main point of contention is whether industrial countries will extend their commitments to further reduce carbon emissions after their current commitments expire next year. Most wealthy countries have said their agreement is conditional on developing countries like China, India and Brazil accepting that they, too, must accept legally binding restrictions on their own emissions.

Delegates attend the opening of UN talks on climate change in Durban.

/ ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images

Zuma said Sudan's drought is partly responsible for tribal wars there, and that drought and famine have driven people from their homes in Somalia. Floods along the South African coast have cost people their homes and jobs, he said.

"Change and solutions are always possible. In these talks, states, parties, will need to look beyond their national interests to find a solution for the common good and human benefit," he said.

The U.N.'s top climate official, Christiana Figueres, said future commitments by industrial countries to slash greenhouse gas emissions is "the defining issue of this conference." But she said that is linked to pledges that developing countries must make to join the fight against climate change.

She quoted anti-apartheid legend and former President Nelson Mandela: "It always seems impossible until it is done."

One of the greatest threats of global warming is to food supplies, which new studies by the United Nations and independent agencies show already are under stress.

In its first global assessment of the planet's resources, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that farmers will have to produce 70 percent more food by 2050 to meet the needs of the world's expected 9 billion-strong population.

But most available farmland is already being farmed, and in ways that decrease productivity through practices that lead to soil erosion and wasting of water, the FAO said in a report released Monday in Rome.

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[FreeStateYank]

The continued embarrassment of the green worshipers and the fudged data is completely ignored in this article. Which appears to be nothing more than a green shakedown. Pass.