Cancun was not typically going to Copenhagen, the distance tells it all. Copenhagen had over 120 global leaders but Cancun was only full of top ministers who still heed the phone call of their bosses.  Copenhagen was the mix of  hype and hope where the world felt we would leap into a final compromise that resets the emission  levels of nations. Copenhagen has gone and with its hype. While Copenhagen produced a last minute accord, little did the world know that a Kyoto successor was subtly grafted into our minds.  Now while everyone wants a chorus mood for Kyoto, Japan and its ilk want the last minute Copenhagen Accord to creep in. 

Cancun won’t provide another binding deal with the tussle between Kyoto and Copenhagen agreement.  The Kyoto protocol was not been much successful  with US a major emitter opting  out and China not bound to cut its emissions. It is obvious that a new Post- Kyoto accord will definitely have to incorporate a bigger shared responsibility for China and other major polluters in developing countries. The question lies in how many years will we wait without a binding treaty with Kyoto expiring in 2012.

It is obvious that the emission cuts in the Copenhagen Accord were a bit substantial but making it not legally binding puts it in a voluntary mode.  It is clear that there hasn’t been a discipline mechanism over countries that erred in the Kyoto protocol framework. The question lies in that if we ditch Kyoto protocol for not legal binding treaty drafted by six countries, what’s the hope of the planet? It gradually looks like politics will triumph over the over the dire warning of science. We might have entered a time where we like grannies have to take a step at a time and forget the rush to save the planet. We might have seen the end of Kyoto and we can only expect an hybrid solution in the future. Why do global leaders give credence to skeptics that scientists and activists are crying more than the bereaved and we are just locked in another fool’s paradise?

Kyoto had its own problems with the controversial projects, hot air syndrome and non-inclusion of forests in the deal. I only expected some tweaks like inclusion of REDD, carbon market reform, substantial emissions cuts, global adaptation plans, accelerated technology transfer and large scale financial commitments to LDCs.

All we have now is another tussle between Copenhagen and Kyoto Protocol.  What the world is facing now shows that a multi polar world makes the global equation complex.Hope we are not locked a bureaucratic world that breeds inaction and narrow interests?  But for how long will this pendulum swing? We need to act fast.  Every  inaction makes the poison pill for incoming generations  more lethal. For now, the logjam over Kyoto and Copenhagen only prove that there is large gulf between science and politics.