I really do want to believe that the Paris climate change agreement will have a real impact on the world. I have children. I have to believe it will.<\/p>\n
But I have also to be cynical about the motives of many who may have signed but did so with their gingers firmly crossed behind their banks. So I note the FT reporting<\/a>:<\/p>\n Amber Rudd, the UK energy and climate change secretary, described the 1.5C goal as merely \u201caspirational\u201d while defending the UK government\u2019s decision last month to scrap \u00a31bn in funding for carbon capture systems that could hold emissions down. \u201cI don\u2019t think it was a mistake,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are still expensive.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There was a great deal else about the dismantling of UK's sustainable energy policy that the FT could also have mentioned.<\/p>\n Paris could be a game changer.<\/p>\n It could also just be a PR exercise.<\/p>\n For those with green concerns - and as an author of the\u00a0Green New Deal<\/a> I am one of those who have - Paris is in reality just a useful event to be used to remind politicians of their obligations. The focus on the day to day demand for change has to continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"