COP25 climate summit ends in 'staggering failure of leadership'

Found on New Scientist on Tuesday, 17 December 2019
Browse Nature

António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said he was disappointed with the outcome, and that leaders had missed an opportunity to be more ambitious on climate change mitigation, adaptation and finance for poorer countries. “But we must not give up, and I will not give up,” he tweeted.

The intransigence of big polluters – including China, the US, Brazil and India – at the meeting led to the European Union, small island states and members of the public expressing frustration.

So introduce a carbon tax. Imports from countries with high pollution rates get a serious percentage on top of the product price until they bring pollution down; the less pollution, the less tax. Sometimes compromises just won't work.