‘It’s the art of diplomacy.’ Climate summit will test nations’ ambition.
How do you get 197 countries to agree to a common plan of action that requires them to forsake the abundant energy sources that built the modern world?
The inconvenient reality: You don’t, at least not quickly. Rather, for now victories come one national pledge at a time.
A decentralized process is, in essence, both the genius and the bane of the world’s approach to humanity’s most pressing environmental issue. It keeps doors open to progress, as world leaders gather next week in Glasgow, Scotland. But modest gains, not momentous breakthroughs, are the norm.
Those gains typically come slowly and deliberately, using persuasion, cajoling, bargaining, and flexibility. All the while knowing that it may or may not be enough to bridge the gaps between nations.
Starting on Oct. 31, this messy system faces its
To-do list from coal to carbon marketsGoal of fairness and inclusionThe risk of a single-nation vetoKeeping the faith
